Artist Statement

I live and work in Fairbanks, Alaska, surrounded by boreal forests, braided rivers, mountain ranges, wildlife and, in the summers, my flower garden.  All of these elements of the local environment, combined with patterned imagery from wallpapers, printed fabrics and quilts, inspire the subject matter of my work and the process I use to create it.

Encaustic paint, a combination of refined beeswax, damar tree resin and pigment,  lends itself well to my process of layering transparent colors and stenciling patterned shapes. I create richly textured “pieces” of paintings  on small wood panels by building up and scraping away multiple layers to reveal unexpected color combinations, marks and visual effects. When I have accumulated several different painted pieces of various sizes and shapes, I arrange them together in larger squares or rectangles, moving them around until I find  a composition that feels right. Finally, I adhere the pieces to a wooden panel, creating a “quilt” of contrasting colors, shapes and imagery, breaking up the composition in unexpected ways. 

Artist Bio

Hornig received a B.A. in Studio Art from the University of California at Davis in 1981, attended the San Francisco Art Institute in 1982, and received an M.F.A in Painting from the University of Washington in 1985. Since 2001, her work has been widely exhibited throughout Alaska in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the Alaska State Museum and the Alaska Museum of History and Art. Hornig was awarded an Individual Artist Grant from the Rasmuson Foundation, and Career Opportunity Grants from the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Her work can be found in many private collections as well as the Alaska State Museum and the Alaska Contemporary Art Bank.