“Hilary Hanson Bruel’s encaustic artwork is important to see because it reveals the timeless yet experimental power of one of the oldest mediums in art. Her work transforms layers of wax into luminous surfaces that hold memory, depth, and texture, inviting viewers to look slowly and discover subtle details hidden within. In a world that often demands immediacy, her encaustics remind us of the value of patience, process, and material presence—an experience both grounding and transformative.

“This work resonates deeply with Summer & the Silence because it embodies the quiet power of stillness and reflection that the call for art seeks to explore. Her layered surfaces suggest the passage of time, the hushed presence of memory, and the beauty that emerges in these spaces between words or moments. Hilary’s wax paintings invite contemplation and mirror the season’s silences. One more element to note is Hilary Hanson Bruel uses a fine thread to carve exact straight lines into her encaustic surfaces, adding a striking sense of precision and structure to the organic depth of her work, symbolic of a need for order and definition in the strata.”

— Payal Thiffault & Michelle May