written by Ashley Szanter | portrait by Adam Finkle

Old and New

“It’s a very old medium that goes back before 1 A.D.,” says artist and Salt Lake resident Nancy Vorm, known primarily for her encaustic artwork.

Encaustic uses pigmented beeswax to create layers of color and texture in order to craft beautiful, evocative imagery.

“I’m a non-representational artist,” says Vorm, “and I just love earthy textures. I love the beauty in imperfection.”

Nancy Vorm’s I Don’t Do Flowers 3, encaustic on panel shown at Phillips Gallery, SLC | Image courtesy of Phillips Gallery

According to Vorm, who spent many years as a weaver before moving to acrylics and encaustic, the beauty of wax is in its translucency, but she takes more than just the beeswax from nature.

“Natural colors and textures here in Utah are my inspiration. Because of my textile background, when I look at a leaf, I’m looking at the veins and discoloration. Those things inspire my colors.”

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