An Interview With Artist Amy E. Witte

We recently interviewed Amy E. Witte in preparation for her upcoming art exhibition at the Ankeny Art Center. Her encaustic mixed-media exhibition titled 'Word Play' opens on August 4 and runs through September 30, 2015.

Amy E. Witte was born in April 1970 and grew up in the small farming community of Petersburg, Iowa. Amy is currently a working artist in Ankeny, Iowa where her studio is located. As a painter and printmaker, Amy reinvents history through encaustic painting, collage and assemblage. The abandoned photographs that she uses contain a world of individuals, each with unique experiences and lives. The experiences and life memories that are lost after being discarded, are now part of Amy's life experience and become a part of her family.


AAC: How did you get started in this particular type of craft/artwork and why does it appeal to you?

AEW: My degrees are in printmaking, bookmaking/letterpress and photography. When you do printmaking or non-traditional photography methods, like I was doing, you train your mind to work in systems and layers. This was relatively easy for me since my mind works in this way for other things besides art. The problem was, the repetition involved. My work became more about process and less about creating a message. Art was not fun anymore.

I spent years trying to figure out how to get back my “mojo”. I found my answer in an antique store in Walnut, Iowa. For years I have collected antique photographs and that day I bought a snapshot of a little girl. I also came upon a book about the artist, Jasper Johns. Funny, but I remember it was sandwiched between various 1930’s adds for woman’s girdles and a poster of Hulk Hogan. Anyway, I chose not to buy it, because I already owned a book about the artist. So, I decided to look at my book, when I returned home.

Jasper Johns is a painter and printmaker known for his targets, numbers and American flags done in Encaustic paint. I had no exposure to the process of encaustic, so I set out to learn more. I found that the process can be much like printmaking. I could build translucent layers much like the layers I was building in my prints except, the outcome was more immediate. Art had just become fun again!

AAC: What has been inspiring or influencing your work recently?

AEW: Words, humor and rumors. I love the perversity of double meanings like idioms. By using sarcasm and humor in my titles, I choose to make inherently unfunny topics, funny. I like to poke fun at human nature. Rumors, for instance, can be ridiculous and much of the time are obviously untrue. They also can take on a darker undertone when the information is true. I think humor in a not-so-perfect world can sometimes save us.

AAC: Can you tell us a bit about some of the unique tools and materials you use in your work and where do you find such wonderful treasures?

AEW: Antique photos and collage items are used in my prints and paintings. These are rescued from antique stores, garage sales, estate sales and sites on the internet. My encaustic paint is a mixture of pigment, beeswax and resin on birch panels. Other tools that I work with are natural bristle brushes, ceramic tools, dental tools, cookie cutters, a heat gun, a heat torch and hundreds of razorblades. If anyone wants to get me a gift for my birthday, please make it razorblades!  

AAC: What are your artistic influences and where do you look for inspiration?

AEW: Each photograph I work with, has it’s own influence on me. They all have real stories that we may never know. So, I create a new story or new life for them from a voyeuristic point of view. Music, social media, everyday life, but most of all my own experiences play into who they become.

Human nature and nature vs. nurture are two things that are always on my mind when I work. Most of the artists that influence me deal with one or both of these in some form. Dorothea Lange’s depression era photography is very powerful. Sally Mann’s photographic chronicles of her children in the south are simple and raw. Joel-Peter Witkin has a beautiful perversity to his work that is not for the squeamish. My favorite painters are Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns because of the subject matter and collage image style. A recent edition to my list is Titian. He was an Italian Renaissance painter who was known for his luminous color and loose brushwork.

AAC: Do you ever experience creative blocks? Describe what they are like and how you overcome them.

AEW: Most definitely. A drought that lasted several years. I am most certainly not an expert at opening the flood gates. My advice is this, challenge your thinking by doing the opposite of what comes naturally. Surround yourself with creative people who don’t always agree with you or what you are doing and pray that your dry spell is not ended by anything having to do with girdles or Hulk Hogan. 

AAC: What do you see yourself incorporating in your work as your mixed-media vision evolves in the future?

AEW: Three dimensional items will definitely show up in my paintings soon. I have done collage work and installation work before and it has always been a natural progression for me. 

AAC: How do you unwind and is there something about you that someone might find surprising or interesting?

AEW: I enjoy vacations with my family, gardening and exercise which keeps me sane. Not to mention an occasional 10am cocktail with friends. I play filthy rap music sometimes in my studio and sing at the top of my lungs while I paint. Two works for my upcoming show were produced while listening only to this type of music. My blood is in about 50% of my paintings due to my love affair with razorblades, my painting tool of choice. I feel a sudden weight off my shoulders and a sneaking suspicion that this information may start some rumors about me.


Expect an evening of wine, cheese and inspiring art when you meet Amy E. Witte and see her outstanding encaustic mixed-media work at our artist reception on Thursday, August 6th from 5-7pm at the Ankeny Art Center. Both the exhibition and the opening reception are free and open to the public.

Can't make the artist reception? Stop in at your leisure and see Amy's 'Word Play' exhibition on display in our side gallery. The Ankeny Art Center is located in a City Park at 1520 SW Ordnance Rd off State Street and just east of the John Deere plant. Our gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday: 9am-1pm, Thursday: 4pm-7pm and Saturday: 9am-noon.

CONTACT: Barb Vaske, 515-965-0940, barb@ankenyartcenter.com

WEBSITE: www.ankenyartcenter.com