Page 7 - Wax Fusion Spring 2022 Issue 6 WIP v19

Building Structure

Diane Kleiss

Building structure…

from the bottom up…

from the top down

I love the challenge and process that presents itself when just a

spark of an idea is transformed into a visual, and then, the
dif cult part - building the piece to reflect that original idea.
The trial and error involved in accomplishing this – to ‘speak’

the truth that I wanted to express – keeps me in my studio; a
practice I started 66 years ago when I was 13 years old.

Conveying that truth is my personal story, but I always want my
pieces to have a universal message. As I survey the subjects

and styles that my art has taken over the years, I see that I am
greatly influenced by large world-wide questions, women’s

issues, the environment, and the weight of our discarded trash.
My personal perspective could stay hidden; the viewers are the

ones needing to find the parts that speak to them. This is my
ultimate goal, to keep the viewer involved in ‘looking,’ to be

engaged, and maybe, if I am lucky, transformed in some way.

In 2008, when I lived in Tucson, AZ, Miles Conrad had a
workshop based on 3D-wax sculpture. It became such a

defining moment for my art journey. Sculpture was it, what I
was looking for, I was hooked! I wanted to experiment with this

media and my head was bursting with possibilities.

When Women Were Birds #3
Encaustic, mixed media, cardboard, found objects

30 x 14 x 14 in

7