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IEA Member Artist Profile
Lissa Rankin
Lissa Rankin began painting in 1991, when she was a first year medical student. A self-taught painter who creates abstract
encaustic art, painted with pigmented beeswax, she has exhibited her work in galleries and museums nationally. She combines
painting and teaching art with practicing OB/GYN part-time, and she has received critical acclaim for her layered complex
abstractions rich with color and texture. She co-chairs the education committee of International Encaustic Artists and is
the author of Encaustic Art Today: A Practical Guide to Creating Fine Art With Pigmented Wax. She lives in Northern
California with her husband and fellow artist, Matt Klein, and their daughter Siena.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I have often struggled with the fluid dynamic between myself as artist and myself as healer. In trying to find balance between
these opposing forces, feeling the conflict between the spiritual nature of art and the pragmatic side of the Western medicine
in which I trained, I have sought to clarify the dichotomy within myself. In my art, egg-like circles are pulled together, as
if by gravity, while being simultaneously drawn apart, weightless. Etched lines create the dynamic push and pull, at once
drawing the elements inward while they appear to resist the centrifugal pull towards the center. Shocking reds commingle with
blacks and whites, in sharp contrast to the neutral, peaceful backgrounds. Each piece challenges the issues of conflict and
resolution, reflecting what is happening in my own life.
I've realized that for me, art and medicine are intertwined. While medicine bleeds passion and inspiration into my art, art is
my transfusion, filling up the tired, stressed, and anxious parts of my soul with light and freedom. I'm still struggling- trying
to find answers, seeking balance, trying always to be the best person I can be. But perhaps it is the journey itself that is the
answer. Through conflict and resolution, the experience itself becomes only a vessel for new beginnings.
SAMPLES OF ENCAUSTIC ART
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Click here if you would like to see more encaustic work by this artist.
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