Kathleen Waterloo

Kathleen Waterloo creates encaustic paintings (encaustic: the ancient technique utilizing pigment mixed with molten beeswax) which are color-based architectural fantasies. Responding intuitively to her passions for and intellectual interest in the design of man-made human environments, Waterloo creates color formed space that blurs the line between 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional perception. Kathleen Waterloo was trained as an interior architect, and her ideas about how we understand and experience our own created physical spaces play a primary role in the development of her compositions. The impetus for her different series of paintings have included maps, floorplans, racetrack courses, and in the case of her most recent exhibition exhibition, farmland data sheets. But these are merely the starting points. For Waterloo, process is the key that unlocks the content of her work. Paradoxically, Waterloo develops her very modern abstract compositions using ancient encaustic processes and techniques. Molten beeswax is combined with resin and a host of pigments. Each color is applied separately with brushes to wood panels, and a torch is continually used to fuse one layer to the next. It is this process of torch fusion that reveals the natural properties and possibilities of the wax and pigment mixture, and it's the "in-between" spaces - the places where the shapes in the painting butt against each other - that offer such beautiful, exciting visual reward (truly a loaded visual metaphor for our time). "Some artists are afraid of the fire," said Waterloo in a recent interview. "To me that's the purest way of making the work, and how I get the best results." Solo Exhibition "Field Studies" July 11 - September 1, 2025 Addington Gallery, Chicago, IL Field Studies is inspired by digital data sheets of my friend's farmland in Decatur, IL. Realizing a need for digital data and its increasing relevance for accountability and management purposes, computerized charts were developed for various conditions: average yield of bushel per acre, moisture levels and locations, organic seed planting data, areas harvested, etc. This data was then cross referenced by specific crop: soybeans, corn, organic seeds, etc. The computerized interplay of the above data in unlimited patterns and colorful geometry immediately spoke to me, with lines always a recurring theme in my work. The titles of my artworks reflect these chart titles, referencing specific crops by road, county or town location, farm name, family heritage, or best general description. Geographically this area in central Illinois is home to some of the richest farmland in the US along with generations of farmers that work and own these lands. Having visited this area, true inspiration indeed lies in the beauty and abundance of the land itself, the tight-knit community of farmers and agriculture, and their passion and work ethic put forth every day of the year... whether planting, harvesting, prepping, or sharing their bounty at a communal table. Landlocked Austin, encaustic on panel, 42x46 Kenny Road, encaustic on panel, 36x36 Kenny Road, alternate view, encaustic on panel, 36x36 Warrensburg East, encaustic on panel, 38x42 Warrensburg East, alternate view, encaustic on panel, 38x42 Austin School Road, encaustic on panel, 38x32 Austin School Road, alternate view, encaustic on panel, 32x38 Harmony, encaustic on panel, 32x32 Harmony, alternate view, encaustic on panel, 32x32 Garver Anderson, encaustic on panel, 26x26 Garver Anderson, alternate view, encaustic on panel, 26x26 Kiick, encaustic on panel, 20x20 Kiick, alternate view, encaustic on panel, 20x20 Around Dave's House, encaustic on panel, 12x12 Around Dave's House, alterbnate view, encaustic on panel, 12x12 Around Joe's House, encaustic on panel, 12x12 Around Joe's House, alternate view, encaustic on panel, 12x12 Around Tucker's House, encaustic on panel, 12x12 Over many years of family road trips, travel games helped bide the time across endless miles. On one trip my daughter and a few cousins discussed being authors and having a "pen name" or a literary pseudonym. They'd take their middle name, the street they live on, and arrive at their new identity. Soon they were renaming friends hoping for the silly, ideal, or profound. I became Ann Forest... crisp and straightforward on those book covers. On three recent road trips - 1. Chicago to Seattle for an art delivery, 2. picking up a relative's car in California and driving home to Chicago via Route 66, and 3. driving with a family member who'd be residing in Orange County - I invented my own "road game" ... spotting exit signs on interstate highways that listed two town names which made perfect "pen names", thus my art titles for this current exhibition. Many colors, moods, broken signs, shapes, oddities, structures, and elevations encountered along those highways inspired this current series of artworks with the titles reflecting the above theme or focus. Previously trained in interior architecture, my work overall continues to reflect a love of space planning and architecture, with lines always a recurring theme. Truck Stop Mirage, encaustic on panel, 36x24 Arabesque, encaustic on panel, 36x24 Bloomer Colfax, encaustic on panel, 32x32 Two Eight Left, encaustic on panel, 32x32 Vega Wildorado, encaustic on panel, 24x24 Stroud Drumright, encaustic on panel, 18x18 Present Tense, encaustic on panel, 18x18 Isabella Finland, encaustic on panel, 14x14 Waterloo in the studio NOTES on THE ENCAUSTIC MEDIUM Encaustic painting is a technique developed in ancient Greece, and refers to any process that incorporates the use of wax manipulated through heat. Predating oil paint by centuries, beeswax is the oldest known pigment binder. The Greek word Encaustika literally means "Burning In". Typically, in this process, pigment is added to molten beeswax and in some cases resin, a hardening agent, and then applied to a rigid surface. The surface itself may be warm allowing for manipulation of the encaustic paint. It may also be cool causing the brush stroke to "freeze" immediately. After each application, the object is subjected to the "burning in" process, which consists of passing a heat source over the surface, causing a fusing and bonding of the painting. The surface may then be polished with a soft cloth resulting in an attractive sheen. While this is considered the "Classic Technique", encaustic is a flexible medium, accommodating a wide range of experimentation. Beeswax, with its organic qualities, its evocative translucency, and its inherent feeling of timelessness, can be a seductive medium for both artist and viewer. Today many contemporary painters are rediscovering this ancient medium with amazing and varied results. These artists are experimenting with the expressive possibilities of encaustic techniques, pushing and coaxing the medium in new and unusual directions, always with an eye to its history. Encaustic artwork has the advantage of not yellowing, of weathering well, being unaffected by moisture, and actually being able to withstand higher heat than oil paintings. It can be used for creating texture and can be applied to any number of surfaces (canvas, paper, stone, wood panels, etc). While at first glance beeswax may seem like a delicate medium, durability is one of it's greatest attributes; many examples of complete and undamaged works survive from ancient times. Unlike paintings produced in other mediums, these works retain a surprising brilliancy of color and freshness of execution. Rooted in historical precedent, this versatile medium remains vital, rich with possibilities for contemporary artists.