Janise Yntema, Montauk, Mixed Media, 2015

Montauk (Abstract Painting) Beeswax, resin and pigment on canvas mounted on panel. Unframed. This work is from a series of formal trifold compositions of quiet horizontal abstraction, based in the Venetian tradition of “colore” (color as the basis of art) producing a Depiction of Atmosphere (the Unseen Air) as both subject and object. Here the subtle Taupe/grey tones produce a palpable density and optical resonance capturing the diffused light and hidden modalities of nature, and the process of metamorphosis beneath the surface. The images Yntema creates are the result of accumulated, semi-translucent layers of color. The beeswax gives a dimensional quality to whatever surface she paints on. Despite the buildup of layers, the qualities of the wax also imbue an ephemeral lightness to the pictures, as light is allowed to pass through the top layer to illuminate the layers beneath. The process of creating these pictures is slow and deliberate, and that sense of the building up of time is important to the work. Yntema is inspired by the way light interacts with the natural landscape. She uses color and space as a way of examining light. Janise Yntema is an American abstract painter currently living and working in Brussels, Belgium. She works with the ancient technique of encaustic wax, a combination of beeswax, resin and pigments in which heat serves as the active solvent. Yntema’s visual language is inspired by how light, perceived through pigment, creates space in combination with how perceptions of time can be retained through colour. Her work references Postmodern Tonalism. Her paintings bring to question the line between figuration and abstraction as within the visual language of the horizontal, a sense of place is suggested. Her paintings are concerned with what is perceived as real comparative to the ideal, an examination into the larger reality of nature and life. Yntema extensive exhibition history includes solo and group shows in London, New York City, Brussels, and Amsterdam. Recent solo exhibitions include Le Paysage Tranquille at Galerie Marie Demange, Brussels, in 2016, and The Quiet Landscape, at Cadogan Contemporary, London, UK, in 2015. Her work is included in numerous public and private collections, including that of the Philips Corporation, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.