Rinat was born and raised in Israel, where she began her artistic exploration. But, only after moving to California, graduating from college and raising a family has Rinat been able to pursue a career as an artist. She now maintains a studio at Hunter's Point in San Francisco, devoting herself full time to her art. Rinat works in the encaustic medium, applying layers upon layers of beeswax and pigment to fuse together a cohesive work.
Rinat Goren is deeply inspired by the human ability to think critically. The process of mind-work fascinates her — gathering information, processing it, forming an idea and taking action. She sees reason as a gift, unique and full of potential. Her art celebrates this gift. But how does one paint a thought, a process? Rinat's work continually explores this question, abstracting a formless noun: a thought, an idea, a concept into a physical representation.
About the encaustic medium:
Encaustic is the use of beeswax and pigment as a medium. The beeswax is melted, then applied in layers to a surface. Heat is used to fuse the layers together into a cohesive piece.
While Goren’s encaustic art is contemporary in style, the encaustic medium is an ancient one. The word encaustic is Latin for ‘to fuse,’ as heat fuses the beeswax layers. Greek artists as early as the 5th century B.C. practiced encaustic art. According to historians, it had a variety of applications, including painting ship hulls. Wax was used to seal boats, and the addition of pigment turned the waterproofing agent into an art form. As new paints were developed, the encaustic medium diminished until the early 20th century. Credit for its revival is given to American artist Jasper Johns, but Diego Rivera used encaustics prior to Johns on canvas and in his murals.
