4B - Thursday, October 9, 2009

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

ENCAUSTIC
From Page 1B
Greeks invented this painting
technique circa the 5th and 4th
centuries B.C.E. It is believed
that when Homer mentions the
"painted ships" of the Greek
fleet in "The Iliad," he is refer-
ring to the rudimentary encaustic
that ancient Greek ship-builders
would apply to waterproof their
vessels.
Encaustic works eventually
moved from purely utilitarian
usage into the realm of art. The old-
est surviving examples of encaustic
paintings are the Fayum portraits,
wooden boards on which realistic
portraits of mummified individu-
als were depicted. Well preserved
in the dry Egyptian heat, these
rare artistic relics have remained
vividly colored and detailed for
about 2,000 years. With beeswax
acting as a sealant, moisture and
other deteriorating factors didn't
affect the art pieces. Hypothetical-
ly, encaustic paintings could last,
unchanging, for hundreds of thou-
sands of years.
Still, no matter how many years
encaustic paintings can with-
stand, the medium proved to have
no defense against the whims of
human preference.After the Fayum
portraits, encaustic fell out of artis-
tic favor until the 1950s, when it
enjoyed a gradual rebirth under
Jasper Johns, the father of contem-
porary encaustic painting. Slowly
regaining its popularity, encaustic
is still an obscure art form, but it's
not forgotten.
Two of Steif's most recent
encaustic series - the Knot Series
and the Wire Series - explore sev-
eral of her artistic themes of mar-
ginality. Both series grew out of
her interpretations of the "knot
theory," which she explains is the
theory that, mathematically, some
knots cannot be undone.
"I don't know how I stumbled
across this piece of arcane knowl-
edge," Steif said. "I am not a math
person - but it really appealed to

idea of knotsof boundaries."
Steif cites, among others, L
Bourgeois (creator of "Man
int spider that used to I
de the Tate Modern in
don) and Robert Motherwel
abstract expressionist
painter and conte 6
porary of Jackson Pol-
lack, as inspirations
to her work. she IV
unsure how she feels
ut comparingSher
%ok toothr-artists.
"I've been o>kin at
my aintings, particu
1 e Knot Series,
a ing a lot of Pol-
lack in them. Other
people see it too," Steif
said. "I inwardly groan
en I hear this. Pol-
lak was a great art-
ist, but I want to be
viewed independently.
Besides, there are
many inortant dif-
ferences betwe
work. Mine is p

ouise
man,"
perch
Lon-
1, an

an artist," Steif said. "The Union
was here and it was a good chance
for a solo show, which is important
for a resume. Ijust did it.It sounded
cool."
After this first solo show, Steif's

that's sort of the mindset that I
exist in."
"There are periods where I'mnot
happy with my work and you have
to push past it and the only way to
push past it is to continually make

,,,

guess that one
thing a lot of people miss
is that the whole piece is
wax. There's no wire or
yarn involved.
- Ariela Steif,
Encaustic artist


°'. i

Encaustic painting was invented around the 4th or 5th century B.C.E.

me. The idea of knots that can't be
untangled, which is what the Knot
Series technically is."
The Knot Series, at first glance,
looks like brightly colored wax has
been poured over knotted yarn. But
that's not the case. After carefully
drawing a sketch of an intricately
tangled knot on onion paper, Steif
then painstakingly built up layers
of wax to create an encaustic repre-

involved."
While the Wire Series
evolved out of Knot Theory, it
actually completed before
Knot Series. Steif explains that
intended the connection betv
Knot Theory and barbed wire t
more subtle and to reflect mor
the "boundary between isola
and community."
"Barbed wire operates as a m

itated and to
an acute
was unc
my work h s.Histloesn't." next step is p i er, w an work. You may have to make hun-
In any case, Steif is certain that online exhibition a au asso- dreds of paintings before you make
the artists she adpires did not lis- ciated with the co ecg oaid.
ten to reen Da r Tom Waits, lery, Galerie St. G taten d that's why
her usual musica inting accom- Island, N.Y. Steif ed he t-ear
/Diy paniment, when they created their piece, "Wire #17," to auctio ck
works. When asked if Billie Joe and, starting Nov. Sat midnig painting and reheat it and
rmstrong has isuenced r interested buyers ca e it."
inting at all, Steif smiled ad ding for St f's and rtists' Steif also feels a calling from
ala said "No, I don't believe he work. The auction, ace at the mediun She mires the indi-
was like to think that painting is .140hours.conm 1 be closed viduals through t history who
the more self-directed than tat." ours after its rting time. have propelled encaustic out of its
she Steif's Wire Series has been on Besides the 14 ours auction obscurity and feels a kinship with
veen display in the Art Lounge of the and several ten e shows, Steif theor efforts. In a time when tech-
o be Union since Oct. 2. She says that does nit ow t her plans for nolog make icky processes
e on "it was much easier than most stu- 'the fut She is certain, effor . o" is too impre-
tion dents know" to get an exhibit in howe oingin encaustic cis ement, Steif feels it
the Union. Aside from filling out will always t of her life. is eep this complex,
ate- an application and self-installing "I pla a paint, even if arc erfect medium of
ates and uninstalling, there wereno I don' . I t part of my expres alive. Encaustic may
ther other obstacles. The opportunity to or a process. be tedious and frustrating to work
side exhibit her first sol*show at such a oan't just stop he middle of with, but sometimes, it is the per-
ears prominent University location has it," Steif saidl. "There's this famous fect artistic mode. Pixels can only
that propelled Steif into the exhibiting quote from Chuck Close: 'Inspira- take the imagination so far - wax,
ivid world. tion is for amateurs. The rest of us on the other hand, has withstoo4
this "I wanted fo start exhibiting as just show up and get to work.' And the test of time.

sentation of the knot. rial that continually negoti
"There's always things that pe undaries in our society, whe
ple realize they've missed in u're inside looking out or out
work the first time around," Steif looking in," Steif said. "It app
said. "I guess that one thing a lotf all across history as a material
people miss is that the whole piece marks boundaries in a very v
is wax. There's no wire or yarn way. So I guess that connects to


A pyromaniac's dream hobby

THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND 'BROTHERS AND SISTERS' (1973)
The Brothers forge on

FIRE POI
From Page 3B
land eventually made it to the
United States and gained popular-
ity as a staple means of expression
in rave culture. Over time poi in
the United States developed into
a complex art with multiple styles
and techniques. Performances are
often paired with costumes and
music, and performers travel all
over the world to attend festivals
and competitions.
The most skilled artists and

performers treat the poi as simply
an extension of their bodies, never
losing track of exactly where the
flames are and how the fire can
be manipulated. I, for one, am not
an artist. My moves are limited to
just a few tricks: It takes me a long
time to get comfortable with the
weight of the fire poi (my practice
pair is much lighter) and I'm still
much more tense than I should be
when I perform. Unfortunately, my
learning progress has slowed con-
siderably with the obligations of
academia.
Still, poi is there when I need to
forget about class or blow off some

steam. Diverting myself from the
complexities of the world with an
exercise involving just me and the
flame - or maybe even life and
death, if you're dramatic - great-
ly lessens the significance of my
day-to-day tribulations. Maybe I'll
eventually get to the level of talent
I aspire to reach. Until then, I'll
enjoy the unique adrenaline rush
you can't get anywhere else. My
stumbling across this performance
art was a fantastic accident that
happened in the most unexpected
of places. Intriguing, obscure art
exists everywhere in many forms
- it just won't always involve fire.

By JEFF SANFORD
Daily Arts Assistant Editor
When our favorite bands lose
core members, it's more often than
not a very bad thing. WhileWilco
seems to be doing fine without Jay
Bennett, such happily-ever-after
cases are far from the norm. Guns
N' Roses pretty much collapsed
after Izzy Stradlinleftthe group in
late 1991, and when John Bonham
choked to death on his own vomit,
Led Zeppelin, the oft-cited great-
est rock'n'roll band of all time,
didn't even make an attempt to
carry on. The group - along with
the dreams of Zoso-inked fanboys
everywhere - simply crumbled.
But when Duane Allman was
fatally crushed in a motorcycle
accident in 1971, the Allman
Brothers Band brazenly went on
making music. Luckily, the band
had a slew of material left over
from when Duane was still alive,
and they turned this into the now-
classicEatA Peach.
But what really makes the All-
man Brothers bad-ass in a way
that Guns N' Roses and Led Zep-
pelin never were is that they didn't
stop making relevant, era-defining
albums after the death of a core
member. Wait, scratch that. Two
core members. Bassist Berry Oak-
ley died in an eerily similar fash-
ion (a motorcycle accident just
blocks away from Duane's) less
than a year later. That, folks, is a
little something called resilience.
Brothers and Sisters, the first
Allman Brothers' album that
Duane or Oakley had nothing to
do with, embodies this element
of the band's awesomeness more
than any other release in its cata-
log. Despite losing one of the
greatest rock guitarists of all time

in Duan(
the bani
the newl
ers Bans
years lat
Unfor
ple rem'
Sisters -
all - is'
the grou
to date,
cially tal
les over
album si
With
and a gr
still not
tarist Di
of thes
the de
(he wro
the albu
tar parts
Betts's n
sound t
SU
the traje
Close
embodis
change
like som
fiddle ba
record,
stompin
delta-bl
frontma
the All
up until
Betts, a
keep up
heroics.
"Sout
revisitin

eAllman and somewhatof a 12-bar blues jam. But where the
d's father figure in Oakley, old Allman Brothers might have
ly reshaped Allman Broth- kept things all grits and guts,
d issued this gem just two rookie member Chuck Leavell's
er. Suck on that, Axl Rose. rousing, virtuosic piano lines
-tunately, what most peo- added more depth than the band
ember about Brothers and was used to. Plus, Greg Allman's
- if they remember it at unusually polished vocal hooks on
"Ramblin' Man." Sure, it's the track - complements of Betts's
p's most successful single songwriting - pegged the band as
but its success - espe- a radio force without compromis-
ken in retrospect - spack- ing its best asset: integrity.
the fact that maybe this Brothers and Sisters fully real-
hould've never been made. ized this move toward poppier,
Oakley and Duane gone hook-based songs, a shift that
rief-stricken Greg Allman Betts's Eat a Peach cut "Blue Sky"
completely himself, gui- hinted at a year earlier. "Ramb-
ckey Bettstook over much lin' Man" is the obvious exemplar
songwriting and became here, but Greg Allman's "Wasted
facto leader of the band Words" also sounded much clean-
te four of seven songs on er and focused than many of his
im and recorded all gui- earlier songs.
s). On Brothers and Sisters, This newfound pop gleam even
iew role marked a shift in seeped into the band's instrumen-
hat would totally reshape tals. The Betts-penned "Jessica"
is perhaps still the band's most
beloved jam, fueledby an instantly
ick on that, recognizable guitar line that just
begs to be hummed.
Axl Rose. Despite the success of "Ram-
blin Man" and "Jessica," many
people gloss over the fact that
ctory of the band. Brothers and Sisters came from a
r "Pony Boy" is a clear badly wounded band swamped
ment of the aesthetic in personal turmoil. But maybe
under Betts. It sounds this is the reason why the album
sething a washboard-and- was such a winner - the band
snd from the bayou would had to press on, and they needed a
complete with porch- resounding success to do so. Who
g rhythm and impressive knows what would've happened if
ues guitar from the new Zeppelin released another album
n. It was unlike anything sans Bonham?
man Brothers recorded On the other hand, we do know
then, and it proved that what happened to Guns N' Roses
lthough no Duane, could after Stradlin's departure, and
a sufficient level of guitar needless to say it wasn't pretty
(ahem, The Spaghetti Incident?). I
hbound" finds the band only iterate this because it sounds
g familiar territory with so good: Suck on that, Axl Rose.

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