Zeecha Van Hoose

An imaginary line separates science and art. During the forced isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found an opportunity to cross that line. As an engineer by trade, I ventured beyond my usual domain to explore new artistic horizons. My journey led me to charcoal and encaustic as my preferred mediums—both of which embrace additive and subtractive processes, allowing for the creation of depth and emotion in my work.

Encaustic, a hot wax painting technique, predates both oils and acrylics, with its origins tracing back to ancient times when it was used to decorate wooden covers for mummies. Today, artists employ encaustic in a variety of ways, from traditional paintings to embedded materials and sculptures. My experiments with this medium lean more toward traditional painting, where the manipulation of wax creates layers that can be revealed through the use of heat, scraping, and carving.

There is a sense of mystery in how the wax moves and which colors will emerge, but there is also science—a blending of my engineering mindset with the unpredictability of artistic expression. This fusion of disciplines allows me to explore the dynamic relationship between control and chaos, structure and spontaneity, in each piece I create.