By Tabitha Redder/nw news editor
Cera, the work of artist Roberto Munguia, is currently displayed in the Lakeview Gallery on NW Campus.
The exhibit features 19 encaustic paintings and five digital prints taken from the encaustic pieces.
Encaustic paintings are made by mixing hot wax with pigment. For this exhibit, Munguia made the encaustic wax himself with beeswax.
“When I’m making the wax, I ground up the pigment to give it color,” Munguia said. “I can put in a lot or just a little. If I just put a little, the color becomes more translucent.”
Because the process of creating the paintings involves moving wax around on paper or panels that are upside down, Munguia said he’s not really in control of the outcome of the work.
“I may as well be blind because it’s face down on the surface,” he said. “I’m never quite certain of what I’m going to get. It’s like Christmas every minute.”
The completion times for the pieces of work are extremely short.
“I spend 30 seconds, maybe a minute on a piece,” he said. “If I’m really fussy, maybe a minute and a half.”
The collection has a special significance to Munguia because when he initially began producing the individual pieces, his cousin died.
“A lot of these works have to do with pulling that out and communicating some of it,” he said.
Munguia said the deep purple theme of the exhibit fit his mood at the time they were created.
“It was kind of funereal, like those purple wreaths you find outside funeral homes,” he said.
NW student Brooke Surratt was drawn to Munguia’s artist’s reception for extra credit in her Art Appreciation class but enjoyed the exhibit and gallery talk.
“This piece looks like an ocean scene. I see a lot of shells and coral in it, so I thought he was going for an ocean theme. But then I found out he doesn’t know what he’s going for,” said Surratt, laughing.
Reception attendee Naomi Millman appreciated the detail in Munguia’s work.
“I like these because it’s not just one image,” she said. “There are a lot of individual things within it.”
The exhibit will be on display until Feb. 15. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.
