Collection: Nicki Stewart

Trained in  Interior and Textile Design, Nicki has been painting since 1998. Her chosen medium is encaustic (beeswax and damar resin).

Encaustic is an ancient and enduring technique predating oil painting and was used by the Egyptians to decorate their sarcophagi.

Nicki began using encaustic from an ethical need to find an organic and sustainable medium.  

The practice of working in  hot wax presents the exciting yet demanding challenge of the constant metamorphosis of the medium via the heating and cooling process.

The multiple layering creates an enigmatic depth and translucency in the work, a luminosity not available through other mediums.

The chosen material and process itself play significant roles in the metaphoric formulation of the work. The evolving vocabulary sometimes blatant or often hidden in the works are clues that give deeper meaning to the content calling the viewer to question their own ethics or values.

Recent works have seen a move toward installation, a textile community project, ceramics, and the application of textiles in a 3D encaustic context.

Nicki currently works from her studio in the South Wairarapa and runs workshops throughout the North Island.