Artist creates beeswax collages
Mixed-media artist Gigi Floyd will be showing her artwork in February at Los Bagels, 403 Second St., Eureka. An opening reception will be held during Arts Alive! on Feb. 1 from 6 to 9 p.m.
This show will feature Floyd’s signature beeswax collages, which she creates by fusing multiple layers of hot beeswax and hand-cut imagery to canvas. Floyd has been making beeswax collages for almost a decade, and says that she’s still in love with all that this unusual medium has to offer.
According to the artist, the catalyst that launched this new series was a box of antique photos purchased from Daisy Drygoods.
“Most of the ‘characters’ in these new collages are scans from my own antique photograph collection,” said Floyd. “There is a poignant aspect to working with these images, almost all of which have come from antique and vintage shops. In a sense, these were all abandoned people, without friends or family left to cherish them. “And on some level”, she said, “I feel as if I’m a rescuer and guardian, as well as the artist. It’s gratifying to bring these forgotten people back into the world. Hopefully, none of them mind the new stories and settings I’ve created for them.”
In addition to art-making, another of Floyd’s great loves is playing the ukulele.
So it’s no coincidence that some fellow members of the Humboldt Ukulele Group will be providing Arts Alive! entertainment at Los Bagels.
“I’m bringing my uke, too,” said Floyd, “and whenever there’s a break in the action, I will be exuberantly strumming along!”
To see more of Floyd’s work, visit her website at www.gigifloyd.com