Dutch artist Anke Roder creates breathtakingly modern landscapes with a traditional but rewarding medium she has painted to perfection.
Roder's work is constructed by building up layers of coloured wax that results in an entrancing, textured surface. Although they appear effortlessly simple upon first glace, colours from previous layers reveal themselves and add an impressive complexity. These layers build up and break against each other, giving way to patches of colour that assert themselves as rocks, waves, and landforms with minimal suggestion. Roder drags the wax off the edge of the panel in a thick, carefree, way that resemblances the effects from a film camera, with streaks that resemble light leaks and soft, vignette borders. This process creates an atmosphere so full of depth and luminosity we want to step right into each painting.
Anke Roder's use of encaustics fits perfectly with water, her subject matter of choice. Her ability to create something that is both quick and energetic, yet deep and meditative mirrors the dual nature of the ocean itself.
