Serendipity
October 2025 to April 2026
at Serendipty Labs
Current exhibit through April 2026 in downtown Denver
These 24 pieces are all created with a unique process of painting called encaustic, made by melting beeswax, pigment and resin on a heated aluminum plate, then laying down paper to absorb the design—or select aspects of it. Additional layers of media are often added.
The encaustic wax technique originated in the ancient Greco-Roman empire and was used as a means of preserving images of the deceased in Egyptian burial sites. The oldest surviving examples - Fayum mummy portraits - are from the 1st Century BC. The painting technique was lost for several millennia and was only rediscovered in the 1990s.
Many of these pieces are works on paper, technically called “prints” because they are made by transferring the medium onto the substrate. But the word “print” is misleading because each monotype is original and one of a kind.
To view a short demo of the process, scroll down to watch a 2 minute video.
Please feel free to reach out with questions.
The exhibit is on view at Serendipity Labs, a co-working space open Monday - Friday from 8:30 -5pm
Purchase artwork below:
About Encaustic Wax Monotypes - A short demo
About the Artist:
Kim Roberts creates encaustic monotypes by melting beeswax, pigment and resin on a heated aluminum plate, then laying down paper to absorb the design—or select aspects of it. Additional layers of wax and pigment may be added, both front and back to give the rich, often tactile effect of delicate, malleable stained glass. After creating an initial foundation of wax on paper, she often embellishes with graphite, ink, stencils or markings to bring out hidden images that seem to mysteriously appear.
Deviating from this traditional technique of painting and fusing hot pigmented wax onto panels to create portraits of the dead, Kim employs the medium to create otherworldly scenes and images that affirm life and invite contemplation of other realms.
She derives inspiration from dreams, myth, literature, and especially from the nature spirits in Crestone, Colorado, where she lives. Recognized as a spiritual “power place” where seekers and retreatants come to access inner wisdom, the San Luis Valley and surrounding Sangre de Cristo mountain range set the stage for a mystical environment where “the veil is thinner.”
The nature of the encaustic monotype process leaves an element of chance to each creation, adding to the mystery of how co-creation occurs. Drawing on her 30 years as a devoted practitioner and teacher of yoga and meditation, her spiritual practice has gradually evolved into making art.