Kim Grall
American b. 1961, Berea, OH, based in Westminster Station, VT
Leafy Basket
2022
Encaustic over leaves, iris leaf cordage, spun wool, and handmade paper with grape vine handle on flat bushel gourd
14 x 15 x 13 in
$425
Box with Butterflies
2021
Encaustic medium over butterfly wings, handmade paper, and smoke bush leaves with iris leaf cordage and an unknown nut on a sm. bushel gourd
6.5 x 6 x 6 in
Sold
Checkerboard Bowl
2021
Encaustic medium over birch bark, handmade paper and amaranth dye on basketball gourd
3.5 x 9 x 9 in
$110
Multi-colored Bird Bowl
2018
Encaustic medium over handmade paper, dyes and bittersweet vine tiles on basketball gourd
6 x 9.5 x 9.5 in
$225
Dragonfly Bowl
2021
Encaustic medium, handmade paper, zebra grass, bamboo leaves, and gourd seeds on basketball gourd with onion skin dye
8.5 x 10 x 10 in
$165
Dazzle of Zebras
2022
Encaustic over pyrography, handmade paper, iris leaf cordage, and beet powder stain with grape vine handle and vintage bronze base on Martin gourd
17 x 8 x 9 in
$225
Out of Africa
2022
Encaustic over handmade paper, smoke bush and bamboo leaves, iris leaf cordage and seed pods on Martin gourd
17 x 9 x 9 in
$195
Insect Percussion
2021
Encaustic medium, paper, various cordage and Job’s Tears on Club gourd
17 x 6 x 6 in
$150
Bowl with 5 Ornaments
2021
(bowl) Encaustic medium over handmade paper and amaranth dye on cannonball gourd, (ornaments) Encaustic medium over handmade paper on sub-mini gourds
4 x 5.5 x 5.5 in
$195
Horse Basket
2019
Martin gourd with paper
11 x 7 x 7 in
Sold
Blackbird Basket
2021
Encaustic medium, paper, leaves, iris leaf cordage and yellow oxide pigment on Sm. Martin gourd
13 x 7 x 7 in
$135
Autumn bowl
2020
Mixed media encaustic with day lily leaf cordage on cannonball gourd
3 x 6.5 x 6.5 in
$105
Ivy Basket
2019
Paper, various cordage and clay beads on Lg. Martin gourd
16 x 10 x 10 in
$185
Swan Box
2021
Encaustic medium, paper and cotoneaster berry on Sm. Kettle gourd
8 x 6 x 6 in
$85
Bittersweet Bowl
2021
Encaustic medium, bittersweet leaves and vine, iris leaf cordage, leather button and black walnut powder on Cannonball gourd
3 x 6 x 6 in
Sold
Giraffe box
2020
Carved and stained with leather cord trim on wren house gourd
9.5 x 5.5 x 5.5 in
Sold
Birchbark Bowl
2021
Encaustic medium, birchbark, leaves and iris leaf cordage on Basketball gourd
5 x 9.5 x 9.5 in
$145
Bee Bowl
2020
Encaustic medium, paper, fabric, bittersweet vine tiles and walnut oil on Cannonball gourd
3.5 x 6.5 x 6.5
Sold
Big Leaf Bowl
2019
Encaustic medium, paper, bittersweet vine and cord rim on Lg. Flat bushel gourd
9 x 13 x 13 in
$325
Tropical Bird Box
2015
Dyes, cordage and odd bits of jewelry on Tobacco box gourd
10 x 9 x 9 in
Sold
Dragonfly
2021
Encaustic medium, paper, bittersweet vine and fabric on gourd pieces
27 x 34 x 18 in
Sold
Red Is Just A Color (mask)
2019
Top of flat bushel gourd with vine, fiber, leather, beads, feathers
13 in di w/6 in appendage
Sold
Artists’s Statement
Over the years my work has gone through many changes as I discovered and experimented with new materials, responded to the process and was inspired with new ideas. My love of Earth is the one constant and remains at the center of all that I do. The materials I work with now are almost all found in nature; from the beeswax and damar crystals I use in my encaustic medium, the cordage I make from various plants, the leaves and seedpods I dry, the dyes I make, the handmade papers and much more including the gourds I grow from seed. Bound to Earth by my passion for it, the awe and reverence I feel is reflected through my work. The intent of each piece is to pass on that vision in the hopes it will spark or reenforce a similar feeling in the person viewing it. I want them to be able to hold a bit of our Earth and wonder at its magnificence.
Artists’s Statement on working with encaustic
I have been making my way towards using only materials found in nature and have gotten one step closer to that goal by introducing encaustic techniques to my gourd work. I make the medium myself from beeswax and damar resin. It takes the place of manmade glues and varnishes and creates a very different look to my gourds. I've also been using natural dyes along with handmade papers for color. Coffee grounds and ground turmeric are examples and aside from the color they produce, you can smell themas well as the beeswax. My work now encompasses three senses; sight, touch and smell. An experience to connect with earth by holding some of it in your hands.
Biography
Kim Grall is an artist working in a diverse array of mediums and techniques, including paper, fiber, leather, photography, printmaking, and pyrography. Grall’s current work uses gourds as both a sculptural object and as a substrate for the artist’s toolbox of materials. The gourds Grall uses are grown by the artist, seen through their entire life cycle intentioned to become art. Through this intimacy with her material Grall finds the inspiration, process, and concept for her work. The artist sees inspiration from nature in her subjects of the garden lifecycle, using pigmented paper to design and paint both the interiors and exteriors of her work. The artist’s process finds comparisons with the making of sacred and ceremonial objects in the growing and drying methods used to produce the gourds, techniques of scarring and burning on their surfaces, and the use of vines, beads, feathers and fiber. Grall’s work presents the concepts of utilitarian objects, made to be sacred objects, and treated as painted sculpture.
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