Paula Blackwell’s work investigates how material opacity and translucency shape perception. Working with encaustic—one of the oldest archival painting media—she constructs layered surfaces in which light is embedded rather than depicted. Her paintings occupy a space between abstraction and representation, where landscape functions as a perceptual framework rather than a geographic site.
Through iterative processes of fusing, incising, erasing, and reworking wax and pigment, Blackwell creates images that resist immediate legibility and instead unfold through sustained viewing. Human presence is intentionally absent, allowing attention to remain focused on material, surface, and spatial ambiguity.
Blackwell’s practice contributes to contemporary conversations around material-driven abstraction, historical media in contemporary use, and the role of slowness and ambiguity in visual perception. Her work has been exhibited internationally and written about by established critics, and she continues to develop encaustic as a rigorous, conceptually grounded medium within contemporary painting.
Noted Collectors include:
Jessica Biel Timberlake
The Nordstroms,
Pike Place Condominiums
Barbara Handler of Mattel Inc.
AKA, Malibu Barbie
Paula Blackwell's Art appeared in the Spring issue of Luxe. interiors + design 2014
Her work has also appeared in the TV show "Satisfaction","House of Cards" and the movie "TED 2" and is scheduled to appear in the movie " Memoirs of an Assassin" , "Stronger" and the remake of "Jacobs Ladder"
Her work has also appeared in the TV show "Satisfaction","House of Cards" and the movie "TED 2" and is scheduled to appear in the movie " Memoirs of an Assassin" , "Stronger" and the remake of "Jacobs Ladder"