Arts-Entertainment
On October 2nd, the Danforth Museum of Art (DMA) will open an exhibit featuring the encaustic interpretations of artist Sara Mast, Standing in the River.
Standing in the River is an exhibit of Sara Mast’s abstract encaustic paintings created from 2022 to 2024.
The paintings, made of oil, pigment stick, cold wax on canvas and encaustic board, draw the viewer into an immersive and experiential environment. The paintings evoke the all-encompassing sensibility of open land, water and sky of Montana. In addition to her immense paintings, some reaching to six by nine feet, Mast presents small, shiny black vitrified PEM glass “rocks” reminiscent of obsidian. The PEM glass is made of trash melted with plasma and is a reflection on our relationship to natural resources.
Sara Mast’s abstract interpretations of the Montana landscape and reflections on the human impact on the planet draw on her interpretation of place and experience. Her interest in the role of science in addressing human-engineered impacts on the environment combine in novel ways with her use of the ancient practice of encaustic painting. Encaustic wax is one of the oldest forms of art preservation. Its proximity to the PEM glass made of trash places the ancient in conversation with the contemporary.
Mast is a Professor Emerita of Art at Montana State University and a multidisciplinary painter working in encaustic, oil, and mixed media. She holds an MFA from Queens College and a BA in Art and Psychology from Cornell College. Additional studies include The University of Iowa MA program, The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, The Art Students League, NY, and the New York Studio School.
Mast’s work is held in more than thirty collections worldwide and has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Zolla-Lieberman Gallery in Chicago, MIT’s Cambridge Science Festival, Chabot Space and Science Center, and Hong Kong Baptist University. Her work has appeared in publications including Encaustic Art in the 21st Century, and her artscience collaboration Black (W)hole was featured on the cover of Leonardo: Art, Science and Technology.
On the nature of her work, Mast notes:
What has living in a human-centered world cost us? We must engage in a more enigmatic and unmediated conversation with the natural world around us. And keep our ear to the ground.
The DMA will host an opening reception for Sara Mast, Standing in the River from 5:30 to 8 pm on Friday, October 9th.
At the Danforth Museum of Art we believe that art has the power to transform the way we experience the world by inspiring, challenging, and bringing people together.
Admission to the Danforth Museum of Art is always free. The DMA is open Tuesdays–Saturdays, 12 to 4 pm. The Danforth Museum of Art is located at 106 North Main Street, Livingston, Montana, www.thedanforth.org.