Elise Wagner - prints and biography
Encaustic Collagraph Prints at the Intersection of Art, Science, and the Natural World
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2023
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint on Evlon
Year: 2023
Image Size: 16 x 16 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2013
Image Size: 11 x 9 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2013
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2016
Image Size: 12 x 20 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2016
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2015
Image Size: 6 x 6 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2016
Image Size: 8 x 8 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2016
Image Size: 8 x 8 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2006
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2016
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2011
Image Size: 11 x 9 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2011
Image Size: 11 x 9 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2017
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2017
Image Size: 11 x 9 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2016
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2015
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2015
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2015
Image Size: 10 x 10 inches
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint on Evolon microfiber
Year: 2022
Image Size: 40 x 30 inches
In this series Wagner uses a sub-atomic particle collision as a metaphor to mark time for transformation and change. February 2022 marks the time that the United States experienced Pluto returning to the position it was in at the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. A Pluto return is said result in a rise and fall of empires. The Pluto return began in 2020 and has has been accompanied by a global pandemic, civil unrest, threats to our democracy as well as cataclysmic climate events.
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint on Evolon microfiber
Year: 2022
Image Size: 40 x 30 inches
In this series Wagner uses a sub-atomic particle collision as a metaphor to mark time for transformation and change. February 2022 marks the time that the United States experienced Pluto returning to the position it was in at the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. A Pluto return is said result in a rise and fall of empires. The Pluto return began in 2020 and has has been accompanied by a global pandemic, civil unrest, threats to our democracy as well as cataclysmic climate events.
Elise Wagner
Biography
Elise Wagner is an American painter, printmaker, educator, and innovator whose career bridges the realms of art and science. Born in 1966 in Jersey City, New Jersey, she relocated to Portland, Oregon, in 1986, where the Pacific Northwest's geology and natural beauty profoundly influenced her artistic development. Wagner earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Portland State University, studying painting, printmaking, sculpture, art history, geology, physics, and environmental biology, integrating these disciplines into the conceptual fabric of her work.
Wagner is renowned for pioneering the encaustic collagraph technique, which merges encaustic painting—a method involving pigmented beeswax—with collagraph printmaking. This innovation allows her to create textured, layered prints that explore themes inspired by physics, astronomy, geology, cartography, and meteorology. Her work often reflects on humanity's relationship with technology and the environment, contemplating our role as observers and the transformative effects of our presence on natural phenomena.
Throughout her career, Wagner has received numerous accolades, including the 2015–16 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, as well as grants from the Ford Family Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Her artwork is featured in galleries across the United States, including in Washington D.C., Palm Springs, Astoria, Oregon, and Seattle, and is held in corporate and private collections throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
In addition to her artistic practice, Wagner is a dedicated educator, teaching encaustic painting and printmaking techniques through workshops and presentations internationally. Her commitment to both creating and teaching art underscores her role as a significant figure in contemporary printmaking, continually exploring the intersections of art, science, and the human experience.
Read: Elise Wagner — Ancient materials, contemporary abstraction
Related artists exploring material-driven abstraction and printmaking processes:
Rosalyn Richards
Seiko Tachibana
Renaud Allirand
Charles Eckart
By: Elise Wagner
Medium: encaustic collagraph monoprint
Year: 2017
Image Size: 10 × 10 inches
Territory Warming #4 is a richly textured encaustic collagraph by Elise Wagner, an artist known for merging scientific inquiry with sensuous materiality. In this abstract composition, Wagner layers wax, pigment, and incised surface patterns to create a dynamic field of intersecting forms and atmospheric color. Soft turquoise tones mingle with warm earthy browns, while embedded linear marks and organic textures suggest shifting terrains, geological forces, or atmospheric movement.