Emily Rhodes is a mixed media artist specializing in the integration of various materials and encaustic painting. Emily was classically trained in Milan, Italy then went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Tasmania. Today, from her home in Charleston, SC, she creates artwork that explores the celebration of shared human experiences. From the keeper of stories by the ancients to medical and biological archives, wax serves as a preservative of our most personal and human histories. As I marvel at our ingenuity, I am equally endeared to our flaws. My work seeks to chronicle our seemingly insignificant gestures. I explore how these moments connect us, even if they are separated by millennia. Symmetry and structure can be juxtaposed by our beautiful, unpredictable nature narrated by the human hand. The silhouettes I choose act as apertures to place, time, and material. The specimens I collect are biopsies of the stories we unknowingly tell. Whether it’s a stroke of paint, the touch of a fingerprint, or something we cannot see, just below the surface lies a sea of memories. Through a mix of media, colors, and textures, each layer of my artwork reveals a tiny memoir.