Artist statement
"My art is mixed media and combines assemblage, encaustic painting, the use of books and wood panels as substrates, and found objects as relevant embellishments. The beeswax of encaustic painting allows me to generate layers of information in my artwork, but keep it mysterious....almost dreamy and historical."
"My work is continually evolving and is inspired by influences of science in my life and the major players in the history of science. I utilize the interrelations between math, science, music, philosophy and practical applications in technology. My love for books influenced my decision to recycle them in an altered form and continually utilize themes involving text."
"To me, an altered book is a form of artwork that changes a book from its original form into something else. I take a book (old, new, recycled or multiple) and cut tear, glue, burn, fold, paint, add to, collage, rebind, gold-leaf, create dimension, drill, or bolt it. Sometimes I add pockets and niches to hold tags, secret drawers and ephemera or other three dimensional objects. The use of books permits me to work in a 3-dimensional context that other artists must create in their craft. In addition, working with this medium allows me the excitement of discovering interesting oddities of information in the books that I am manipulating."
--Raymond Papka
Bookshelf II
