Dancing in the wind Painting

this is a painting based on my clothesline series. I grew up on a farm in New Jersey with my parents and three siblings until I was 5. Most memories of those years are impressionistic, but some are more substantive, such as walking through laundry hanging on a clothesline. This simple act evoked many sensations: the scent of fresh laundry warmed by the sun; the feeling of material on my skin; the sight of fabric gently swaying in the breeze like dancing figures. I was mesmerized by light passing through the fabrics, which emphasized their colors and patterns and made them ethereal.   Like most childhood memories, my recollections of the clothesline have become complicated with time. I now know that my mother hung the laundry to dry because my father thought linens dried by machine were not as fresh. My mother was an alcoholic and I recognize the relief my siblings and I felt when she could complete a task like laundry. This context makes the memories fuller, but more complex.     My series, Clothesline, attempts to recapture this sensory experience while acknowledging the challenging nature of memories. The work is comprised of encaustic, pigment, and paper on board. The paper recalls the colors and patterns of that laundry, particularly circles and polka dots. I carve into the encaustic to add a sculptural quality and draw loose gestural lines with oil sticks to capture a moment in time. The works are somewhat disassociated from meaning until they are complete, then their context becomes clear. The figure in “Standing Alone” is warrior-like and feminine, like my sister, Rebecca. The figure in “Red Polka Dot Dress” is flirty and confident, like my sister, Margo. The resultant series speaks to presence and absence, embodying the same qualities as my memories of the laundry: layered, complex, and haunting.