Artist
LeRone Wilson
Artist
Coming from a family of metal welders, LeRone Wilson learned at an early age through proximity and practice about malleability of materials. Witnessing the bend of a metal form through varied methods of manipulation, Wilson was inspired to bring this technique to his artwork. His encaustic sculptures have been layered, sculpted, and formed into wonderfully organic multidimensional sculpture-paintings. Wilson begins his process of encaustic sculpting by melting and building layers of encaustic wax. Working with a myriad of geometric forms, whether they’re squares, expanded lines, or circles, the shape of the piece determines the layering and carving process. The natural rhythm of the process is manifest in the organic nature of the piece: the works emerge as live forms, mimicking textures in nature. Color is just as much an inherent part of Wilson’s painstaking process. Wilson melts down encaustic drops of color to achieve the deep tones and primary colors that make up his work. Finding inspiration for his palette anywhere from the streets of his Harlem neighborhood to characteristics in individuals, Wilson uses color, and sometimes, the lack thereof, to express deep emotions. Wilson’s titles exemplify the life force that is carried within each piece. Phrases such as Rest Finds Grace or Eternal Passage evoke feelings of permanence through a material that, while at first pliable, hardens to an inflexible shell. The simultaneous strength and softness of the material is what compels Wilson to push the medium to its ultimate breaking point, because right before that precipice lies the work’s greatest strength. Wilson has been an active artist and participant in the Neo-Harlem Renaissance. His work has been featured in Museum of Biblical Art, and Phiillips de Pury Auction House, he was the winner of the 2011 Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series at Scope Miami, a nominee for the Louis Tiffany Biennial Award and winner of Best In Show at the 19th Carroll Harris Simms National Black Art Exhibition. His works are in several important private collections and has been featured in publications, including Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, among many others.