Michele Renee Ledoux: 'Materia+'

Michele Renée Ledoux’s contemplative creative practice reflects her commitment to authenticity and presence.

Best known for her contemporary work in the ancient technique of encaustic, the work has a heavy sculptural aspect and features uneven surfaces, cuts, cracks, chips and often incorporates recycled material. Influenced by abstract expressionism, minimalism and arte povera, the work is neutral in palette, architectural in style and organic in process and texture.

Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally; is in private collections; and has also been published—including in an award-winning book.

Michele Renée Ledoux was born outside Boston, MA in 1967 and relocated to Boulder, Colorado in 1990 after graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She then moved to Evergreen, CO in 1998 where she currently resides and works as a full-time artist surrounded by nature in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Evergreen, Colorado.

“Materia+” is an exploration into the organic and raw nature of encaustic—a medium that begs to be layered, heated, carved, scraped and scratched and dictates both an additive and reductive creative process in an effort to expose itself in all of its forms.

It is a full on celebration of the resulting cuts, nicks, scratches and peeling; a denial of “perfection” as we know it; and, an insistence on spontaneous creative inspiration and non-conformance to “exactness”.

Often referred to as the “ratio of the infinite”, the work additionally features seemingly simplistic geometric patterns that embody an energy and spirit that extend well beyond the physical boundary of the work. In this way, “Materia+” is also an invitation to experience the work beyond its physical form.