Pamela Hahn is exhibiting recent encaustic paintings and collages in her show “Down from the Sky.” In this body of work, Hahn began with the possibilities of her materials. She used her collection of encaustic scrapings that provided unexpected mixtures of color and texture as well as her stash of papers, printed matter and found objects.
As the work progressed, themes evolved. She was introduced to a poem by Wendell Berry that begins, “I’ve come down from the sky…”. Those first words captured her imagination and resulted in the pieces titled “Down from the Sky” and “Blowing in the Wind.”
During this time Hahn read about new excavations at Pompeii where she had experienced a memorable visit. She is deeply drawn to ancient cultures and artifacts. The collages, Remembering Pompeii, were inspired by having seen frescoes and walls that survived the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.