ELLEN KOMENT
A native New Yorker, Ellen Koment is a graduate of The High School of Music and Art, and the Cooper Union Art School, and then went on to an MA in Painting from UC Berkeley. She stayed in the Bay Area for 25 years, teaching and exhibiting her work in museums and galleries.
In 1994 she made her way to Santa Fe, almost simultaneous with her discovery of Encaustic as an exciting medium to work in. She has seen numerous successes, exhibits and publications since arriving in Santa Fe. She is represented in “Contemporary Art of the Southwest”, “EncausticWorks12” and in the soon to be released “Encaustic of the 21st Century”, where she wrote an article on Encaustic and Creative Process.
“Pouring on paper as a technique, for me, requires me to be present to the process and aware of all that is happening on the page. One must act in reaction to the way that the first color has fallen; it exists in the area between control and chaos. You have a modicum of control, you can control your color, and the general direction of the flow of the molten wax, and you can bend the paper to direct the wax.
With this, as with many of the variations possible with encaustic wax, understanding that its very ease can also be its nemesis. Being aware of the difference between accident and intention. The accident can open doors, create new impulses, change the direction of your work, but ultimately, the work must come from a place of intention, where the accidental has been enveloped into a greater reality of concept and intent. It allows us to work from our most profound intuitive place, but it must be an informed intuition, shaped through our knowledge and experience.”
Excerpt from “Encaustic and Creative Process”, Ellen Koment
WORKS
Wax on Paper
Wax on Paper
Wax on Paper
Wax on Paper
RESUME
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
Karan Ruhlen Gallery, 2013 “Waxworks”, Portland, OR 2011
Zane Bennett Contemporary, encaustics 2009 Originals 2007, Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM ENCAUSTIC Waxlander Gallery 2001, 2002
Women Artists of New Mexico, National Museum of Women in the Arts, @ Lewallen Gallery, Santa Fe, 1999,
ENCAUSTIC Cup Show, Karan Ruhlen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 1999,
ENCAUSTIC Moxley/Ross Naranjo Santa Fe, NM 1998 Santa Fe International Academy of Art, 1997
Animals, Waxlander Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico 1996
Fenix Gallery, Taos, New Mexico 1995 Annual Exhibit, The Oregon Arts Council, Salem, Oregon 1993
Introductions, Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, California 1992 Opening/Closing, Artspace, Los Angeles, California 1991
Balance Brought Forward, Artspace, Los Angeles, California 1991 Arts 1990,
California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California 1990
Arts 1989, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California 1989
Painting Invitational, Bowery Gallery, New York City, New York 1988
Four Artists, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California 1988 The San Francisco Arts Festival Juried Exhibit, San Francisco, California 1984
Juried Exhibition, The Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California 1969
New Painters, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA 1967
AWARDS AND COMMISSIONS:
2011 Krause Residence, Trump Tower NYC
1998 Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Assistance Grant
1997 Creative Work Grant, University of New Mexico(for encaustic )
1994 Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Residency Grant
1991 Sonoma County Visual Artist's Grant (NEA)
1986 Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Residency Grant
1983 McDonald Mansion, Stained Glass Commision
Helen Wurlitzer Foundation Residency Grant
EDUCATION:
M.A. Painting, UC Berkeley, 1983
BFA Cooper Union Art School, New York City
High School of Music and Art, NYC
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Santa Fe Community College
University of New Mexico
Santa Rosa Junior College
PRIVATE ENCAUSTIC WORKSHOPS: 1994-present
PUBLICATIONS:
"Encaustic in the 21st century", paintings and article, Ashley Rooney, Pub: 2016
"Contemporary Art of the Southwest", Ashley Rooney 2014
“Encaustic Works 2011”, ed, Joanne Mattera
“Contemporary Paper and Encaustic”, Catherine Nash
Architectural Digest, Oct 2011, Painting in the Davis home, Santa Fe
New Mexico Magazine Oct 2011, about EK encaustic workshops
"Art and Letters, Love and Desires", Ellen Koment and Jack Leissring
REVIEWS:
Pasatiempo, New Mexican, April 2014
Pasatiempo, New Mexican, February 1996
Painting for Katy "Bird" Magnunsen, Artweek, Jan 1993
Landscapes, Press Democrat, 1990Four Artists, Oakland Tribune, 1985
New Painters at San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA 1966
EVENTS:
R&F Encaustics “Artist of the Month”, March 2010
ATOA Panel Moderator, NYC, Oct 2009, “Encaustic Today”
International Encaustic Conference, presenter, 2011, 2013
Montserrat Encaustic Conference Presenter: June 2010: “Working Large”
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITS:
Karan Ruhlen Gallery, 2014
Box Gallery, Santa Fe, July, 2010
Box Gallery, Santa Fe, 2008
Waxlander Gallery, Santa Fe, 2005
Waxlander Gallery, Santa Fe, 2004
Helix Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2000
Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, 1997,
Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, 1995
Cynthia Woody Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 1997
Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, California 1995
Vita Gallery, Portland, Oregon 1994
Shapiro Jameson Gallery, San Francisco, California 1991
Pheonix College Art Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona1991
J. Noblett Gallery, Sonoma, California 1990, 1988, 1987
Clatsop College Gallery, Astoria, Oregon 1987
Piper Sonoma, Healdsburg, California 1986
Solano College Gallery, Fairfield, California 1984
The Annex Gallery, Santa Rosa, California 1983