Layers: A Show in Review

Earlier this March, Venvi Art Gallery began displaying its current show, Layers, which features works by artist Leah Macdonald. Leah Macdonald is an artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She primarily works with encaustic and photography. When talking about her works during the show's opening, I learned that she uses numerous layers of wax to seal in paper and thick photos that she's printed out and glued onto wood panels. As Layers approaches the end of its run at Venvi, I would like to share with you all more about Leah's technique behind her wax pieces and discuss notable works of hers from this exhibition.

When you first look at Leah Macdonald's work, her use of wax and numerous layers to create texture within her piece really capture your eye. Many of her pieces have a more muted, dreamlike composition to them. Her pieces are made using a technique called photogestic. It stems from her experiences with the medium encaustic, analog photography and painting. She layers wax and photographs together to create this composition within her works.

Encaustic is an incredibly old medium, even has dates back to the ancient Roman period. and mixes pigments. The mix is then applied to the surface in this case Leah's wood panels. this medium was developed by the ancient Greeks and reached the highest level of technical Mastery by the 4th Century BCE.  The oldest surviving encaustic panel piece is a Romano-Egyptian mummy portrait from around 100 to 300 BC (Encaustic painting 2025). The medium has resurged in popularity during the 1990's with artists using hot plates and heated styluses on different services alongside wax crayons as an inexpensive and more accessible material for crafting and art education. Like the work shown in Layers, encaustic as a medium is not limited to just simple designs; it can be used to create more complex pieces just like as you would with media like oil or acrylic. This medium is difficult to master, but the artworks that are created this way have a unique quality and bright and luminous coloring to them (Encaustic painting 2025).

Layers has a lot of notable pieces that exude these unique qualities in their composition and colors. For example, Letters is a 16x20 inch encaustic photo on wood panel piece that was created this year. It features a horse, birds, flowers, a rider on a horse, and some letters down below with script written on them. When looking at this piece, the first thing that catches your eye is the photo of the horse on the far right. This is the focus point of the piece, and I feel like it brings the composition together very well. 

Letters. Encaustic on wood panel, 2026.

The bright and vibrant colors of the flowers in comparison to the black and white colored images that Leah took and attached to the wood panel creates a good sense of contrast and it is very beautiful. this would be perfect to hang in an office or a living space.

Underwater. Encaustic on wood panel, 2026.

Another piece worth mentioning is Underwater. This is a 14x11 inches encaustic photo on wood panel piece. Underwater is one of my favorite pieces in this exhibition because of the bold and vibrant colors that Leah uses in her wax. This piece has a lot of wax textures that pop up when you look at it up closely, so it is more three-dimensional than just flat on the panel. The top right area has really beautiful bright orange floral textures that kind of mimic the appearance of a moon and it's the first thing that you look at when you see this piece as well. overall, this piece is incredibly beautiful despite its smaller size and would look great in a small living space or office space.

Springtime. Encaustic photo on wood panel. 2026

Springtime is a 10x8 inch encaustic photograph on a wood panel. While it is slightly smaller than some of the other pieces listed here, it's vibrant and colorful composition makes up for that. It would look great in a desk or office space. One thing I enjoy when looking at this piece is the textured flowers that Leah creates using extra wax on her works. In the far right, you can see a row of red flowers over a greenish background. I like the flower on the left side of this piece. The right side is more pronounced, making it easier to see the texture and thick layers of wax on those flowers. It's like it's popping out at you when you look at it. While it is slightly smaller than some of the other pieces listed here, it's vibrant and colorful composition makes up for that, making it ideal for a desk or office space.

Since March, we've had Leah Macdonald's show, Layers, on display at Venvi Art Gallery. Her works invite you into a dreamlike world with its unique color and photograph and wax compositions. Macdonald incorporates her skill in both photography and encaustic to create pieces with unique and dreamlike composition. Encaustic is a difficult technique to master. However, when you see the final composition of a work made this way, it truly is one-of-a-kind in its own way. You can't recreate the beautiful dreamlike compositions within Leah's work with any other medium. The wax gives room for layering and creating textures that other media cannot simply reproduce like wax can. Most notably are her pieces Letters, Underwater, and Springtime, which you can find on our site at www.venviartgallery.com.

Sources:

Wikimedia Foundation. (2025, October 21). Encaustic painting. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustic_painting