For the last several years I have explored the manifestations of the human body as vessel, as tool, and as found object. Recently, I have been more interested in going beneath the skin. The correlation between of the opening of a flower and the opening of the body, animal or vegetable, is a concept I want to explore. Beeswax and oil on wood seem like appropriate materials for the study of archaic renderings of plant and human anatomy. Through this discovery of the delicate nature of wax, I have been able to answer my need to depict, sometimes at the microscopic level, hidden parts of a living thing. Creating this waxen overlay over the surface of my paintings satisfies my need to establish a distance between the world depicted and myself.

Found materials have dictated most of what I have created in the last year. These are assemblages which primarily consist of a thick Plexiglas substrate upon which I will sometimes draw, pour wax onto, drill into, sand, affix wax sculptures, apply transparencies, and photographs have served to reinforce my ongoing interest in the human body as vessel but with a new angle. With my newfound ability to incorporate thick layers of Plexiglas along with any type of semi-translucent wax further exemplifies the idea of some type of veil or layer, but with more dimensionality. Along with new material, new ideas have evolved. They now represent layers of thought. This pictorial marriage between art and anatomy is part of my journey to the most elemental part; i.e., my need to control the body as well as the perceptions of the body.

Allen Coleman Melissa Earley Darlene Fuhst JJ Ohlinger Deborah Pagano Alexia Timberlake