Zachary Armstrong’s Encaustic House is an all-enveloping installation that meditates on the American childhood in all its wonder, isolation, hope, and potential. The walls, ceilings, and floors of this full-sized house are made of large encaustic paintings bolted together. The exterior is a direct three-dimensional rendering of a doll house that was a small, quiet but consistent presence in Armstrong’s childhood. The interior walls/paintings are complex, chaotic visions dense with art historical references, personal anecdotes, collective cultural memories, and dark and humorous contemporary Americana.
Along with the house, Armstrong will also install a series of shelves that span the width of the Weston’s Street Level Gallery. These shelves will be filled with over 200 handmade lamps, pots, paintings, and sketches. The large shelf installation is essentially a mural-sized portrait representing Armstrong’s artistic practice, with cross-references to other works in the exhibition and to his studio practice overall. Every image has its counterpart in the exhibition and/or references another work by Armstrong.
