Encaustic is an ancient medium for painting made by combining beewax, demar resin, pigment and heat. Indianapolis artist Elizabeth Guipe Hall uses encaustic as paint and as a natural adhesive for composing colorful artworks using digital imagery, vintage ephemera, pencil, etched lines and imported handmade papers, all sealed between successive layers of natural and pigmented beeswax. Each layer of the work must be fused with heat to the previous layer to ensure the integrity of the surface. After the piece has cooled, it can be polished to a glowing sheen allowing the depth between translucent layers of wax to be revealed.

Hall’s work explores themes of personal growth, the passages of life, and the drive for self-determination. Within this framework, images of her children, birds, fish women, and family groups often appear.

Hall maintains a studio at the Harrison Center for the Arts and participates in gallery shows in and around Indianapolis. Her work is in private collections in South Africa, Iran, England, Australia and the United States.