Photographic and Encaustic Processes Workshop

Photographic and Encaustic Processes Workshop

Grant:
Instructional Development Fund (IDF)
Academic Year:
2013 - 2014 (June 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014)
Funding Requested:
$500.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
llsteich
Overview of the Project:
I propose to attend a four day workshop at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, in Woodstock, NY, from June 21 through June 24, 2014. The workshop is Photographic & Encaustic Processes. I teach Digital Photography at the Stamps School of Art, and I am always seeking to expand the methods and processes that are used in manipulating digital negatives. My teaching in the Stamps School is centered on the use of tools, materials, and processes. I have incorporated alternative processes in ARTDES 121 and ARTDES 300 courses I have taught, and in the ARTDES 173 courses I currently teach. What I learn in this workshop, I will directly transfer to students as I work one-on-one and in groups with students seeking solutions to the design and composition problems they encounter in my assignments. Encaustic is a wax-based process that allows the artist to enhance the dimensionality of an image, giving the illusion of three dimensions, the illusion of space, adding translucent layers, adding to the body and substance of the image. This is an interdisciplinary workshop that will afford me the opportunity to create new work and experiment with alternative processes. The workshop also covers archival processes, methods of presentation, and basic safety. All of this will directly impact my current classes, as I am continuously revising my course to bring additional methods for students to attempt. This increases their vocabulary in terms of the visual language they use to communicate in creatively solving art and design problems.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

My goal for this project was to deepen my learning of the encaustic process, which is a centuries old method of adding pigment to layers of wax and resin. In the nineteenth century it was occasionally used in conjunction with photography. In the twenty-first century it is undergoing somewhat of a revival. There is a coterie of visual artists who are preserving and expanding on historical and alternative photographic processes. I have incorporated some of these processes in my teaching of digital photography.

Project Achievements:

Prior to this workshop, I had been experimenting with encaustics as a method to interrupt the surface of a photograph (digital or gelatin silver print, but had no formal training in best practices. Through this workshop, I learned the correct mixtures of resin and wax and temperatures to obtain the optimal results. Since the workshop was this summer, it is too early to tell what effect it may have on my department or my school. For me and for my teaching, the biggest impact is mastery of another process that can meld digital photography with alternative conceptions of solving design and composition problems. Whether with my current course sections of non-art majors or with any course I may be part of in the future, my competency in a range of techniques to manipulate photographs helps me provide students with a bigger "vocabulary" of presenting images.

Continuation:
The project as written has concluded. The project of working with encaustic materials on substrates and prints continues. I recently exhibiteda range of these works at Mars Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Dissemination:
N/A
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