JOY HAGEN’s art is inspired by the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Hagen’s art depicts environments that speak to remembered moments through selected bits and pieces from the natural world, usually with a reference to trees. She creates what she calls “assembled landscapes” using encaustic medium and reclaimed wood. “I love the contrast between the soft, sensuous nature of the melted bees wax against the hard physicality of process as I scrape, burn, tear and saw. Process and subject become intertwined as I contemplate loss, devastation and erosion versus perseverance, fertility and new growth.“
