Artwork copyright Patti Bowman. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021.

Artwork copyright Patti Bowman. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Patti Bowman. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Patti Bowman. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Patti Bowman. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Patti Bowman. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021.

Double Play, 2020

Patti Bowman
(Canadian | American, born 1960)

Location: Simcoe Elementary, Wapato

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Patti Bowman’s Double Play encaustic paintings were made in the spirit of play and experimentation. The name LEGO began from the Danish phrase “Leg Godt” which means "play well." Double Play is about color, line, repetition, and contrast. Each panel is like its own block, but the arrangements of grids and stacks invite the eye to explore dark and light, sharp and blurry, warm and cool.

Bowman cast these LEGO-style blocks in candy molds using recycled encaustic wax from her classes and her own art practice. She explains her process: "Encaustic painting means working with wax-based paint. Wax paint must be kept molten hot while working, and in the background there is a hot plate holding the melted paint. It involves working hot and cold, rather than wet and dry—as with watercolor or oil or acrylic paint. The warm paint is quickly painted onto the surface, and it cools or ‘dries’ very quickly. Heat [from a torch] is used to fuse new brushstrokes to the surface. The torch begins to feel like a paintbrush because it can be used to blend the colors on the surface."

This artwork is part of a curated collection by Philippe Hyojung Kim in 2021 at Simcoe Elementary, in Wapato, Central Washington. The local art selection committee stressed the following interests: artworks that represent Wapato’s diverse families and its rural and agricultural communities; the connection to the Yakama Nation; and artworks that focus on balance and are reflective of young minds.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Wapato School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Bellevue-based artist Patti Bowman creates encaustic landscape and abstract paintings.
Bowman studied at the University of Calgary in Alberta and at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, British Columbia (both in Canada). She also studied encaustic painting at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle.