Liz Rundorff Smith

Hard to Swallow (encaustic on panel, pattern, grid, forms, bright, texture)

2023

Mixed Media Encausticand Pastel Powder Rundorff Smith deals with central shapes that she develops by referencing urns, shrines, burial mounds and places of veneration. As a current ...

oil on canvas stretched over wood panel

mixed media on paper 13 x 9 inches unframed 23.25 x 19.25 inches framed Rundorff Smith deals with central shapes that she develops by referencing urns, shrines, burial mounds and places of veneration. As a current resident of South Carolina, she associates cemeteries, particularly locations in the South, as spiritual spaces of veneration. Her paintings are reliquaries for memories. Urns are vessels to hold ashes while also acknowledging life—what we mourn and what we celebrate. In the exhibition at SEFA Hudson, Rundorff Smith presents the latest in her series entitled “Trophy.” These small scale encaustic paintings are hung in a grid that mirrors the geometric patterns within each piece. The artist works in layers by melting and combining pigmented wax to create a literal history on the materials’ surface, while simultaneously implying the personal story that each vessel is meant to hold. Rendered in colored wax from sky blue to bright pink to vibrant yellow—a rectangular pattern blankets many of the paintings. This patternation references the constructions of Rundorff Smith’s father, a builder. Thus, the “Trophy” paintings...

mixed media on paper 23.25 x 19.25 inches framed Rundorff Smith deals with central shapes that she develops by referencing urns, shrines, burial mounds and places of veneration. As a current resident of South Carolina, she associates cemeteries, particularly locations in the South, as spiritual spaces of veneration. Her paintings are reliquaries for memories. Urns are vessels to hold ashes while also acknowledging life—what we mourn and what we celebrate. In the exhibition at SEFA Hudson, Rundorff Smith presents the latest in her series entitled “Trophy.” These small scale encaustic paintings are hung in a grid that mirrors the geometric patterns within each piece. The artist works in layers by melting and combining pigmented wax to create a literal history on the materials’ surface, while simultaneously implying the personal story that each vessel is meant to hold. Rendered in colored wax from sky blue to bright pink to vibrant yellow—a rectangular pattern blankets many of the paintings. This patternation references the constructions of Rundorff Smith’s father, a builder. Thus, the “Trophy” paintings...

In this contemporary encaustic monotype, layers of pigmented beeswax on a scroll of lightweight mulberry paper create an undulating composition suggesting layers of the earth's crust...

Contemporary American ceramic artist Richard Hirsch's encaustic Painting of Nothing #73 is made of ceramic raw materials, dry pigment and wax. This piece is part of his ongoing Painting of Nothing Series. Hirsch applies the waxy mix with a brush onto redwood plywood backed structures with two-inch wood strips all around and used various torches to layer, flux, bubble and blend. "Waxy and very tactile, they are probably the work Mark Rothko would have done had he spent most of his life in clay. Hirsch’s paintings have the nuance, subtle texture, and color shifts that become evident in blown-up photographs of his ceramic objects as well as a similar presence." Signed and dated en verso by the artist. This painting ship directly from the artist’s studio in Rochester, NY. (Literature: "With Fire: Richard Hirsch, A Life Between Chance and Design", Scott Meyer...

"Fibrosa" made by Hudson Valley artist, Alaina Enslen, in 2025 Encaustic, dyed fabrics, and paper mounted on panel 20 x 16 x 2 inches unframed, sides reveal raw panel and wrapped fab...

Schwartz received a degree in fine art from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia, and later studied sculpture at Columbia University. Her work has been shown in...