I live and work in Fairbanks, Alaska, surrounded by boreal forests, braided rivers, mountain ranges, wildlife and, in the summers, my flower garden. I use encaustic paint, a combination of refined beeswax, damar tree resin and pigment, as well as collage and pastels on wood to create layered compositions of vibrant colors and organic shapes. Elements of the local environment combined with decorative imagery from textiles, embroidery, wallpaper and quilt designs inspire the subject matter of my work and inform the process I use to create it.

Artist Bio

Joan Hornig was born and raised in the the San Francisco Bay Area in California. She received a Bachelors of Art in Studio Art from the University of California at Davis in 1981, attended the San Francisco Art Institute in 1982, and received an Masters in Fine Art in Painting from the University of Washington in 1985. She moved to Alaska in 1999 to teach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Since 2001, her work has been widely exhibited throughout Alaska in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the Alaska State Museum and the Alaska Museum of History and Art. Hornig was awarded an Individual Artist Grant from the Rasmuson Foundation, and Career Opportunity Grants from the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Her work can be found in many private collections as well as the Alaska State Museum and the Alaska Contemporary Art Bank.