Art Exhibit: Rachel Deutmeyer & Barbara Walton

The Memorial Union Art Gallery is hosting an exhibit by Rachel Deutmeyer and Barbara Walton, both Ames, Iowa, artists who work in encaustic media. Deutmeyer is a photographer who uses lumen prints, digital collage, and physical layering of photographs with encaustic medium, while Walton is a painter who adds pigment to the wax, which is then brushed onto the canvas. The exhibit titled “An Exploration of Nature Through Encaustic Painting” will be on display June 2 – July 26, 2024, and gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10am-2pm and Sunday from 1-4pm. A reception will be held on Thursday, July 18, from 5-7pm.

The traditional encaustic medium is beeswax, to which pigment can be added. The wax, in its molten state, is transferred with a brush to the surface to be painted or collaged. Encaustic translates as “to burn in”. It is an ancient technique (approx. 500 A.D.) that predates oil painting.

Deutmeyer’s artist statement describes her work: “The combination of singular photographs in each composition presents time as an array of discontinuous, yet interconnected moments. Inspired by details found close to my home, these images symbolize the small events and actions that give way to larger seasons of growth and change.”

Walton’s artist statement explains: “Much is to be discovered in the surrounding natural environment where one finds the whole of life: birth through death and the liminal space between. There is refuge in the symbiosis of living forms: waters, plants, trees, rocks, animals. The expression of nature as the subject is poetic and never a literal interpretation. The intention of my work is to evoke an inexpressible longing, memory, power.”

Deutmeyer graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from Ashford University and an MFA in Integrated Visual Arts from Iowa State University. She works at Practical Farmers of Iowa in Ames as senior video coordinator. Walton received a BFA and an MA from Iowa State University and an MFA from Drake University. She has been teaching drawing and painting at Iowa State University since 1993. 

The Memorial Union is located at 2229 Lincoln Way in Ames on the ISU campus, and paid parking is available in the ramp adjacent to the building. The Art Gallery is located on the 1st floor and has free admission.