PALO Gallery is pleased to present LeRone Wilson. Wilson graduated from the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Over the years, the artist honed his encaustic craft, creating abstract sculpted paintings inspired by Kemetism, a revival of ancient Egyptian religion.
Wilson continues his use of encaustic in his recent works, the medium serving as a sustained homage to Kemetism. Beeswax itself is a critical component of Wilson’s oeuvre, not solely as a material but also as an anthropological medium of sorts. Honey, wax, and bees were crucial to Kemet society. For Wilson, beeswax became a vehicle for retracing history back to the kingdom of Kemet, now referred to as Egypt, reclaiming Black identity in the face of historical miseducation. For the last six years, Wilson has incorporated his Kemetic studies into his abstract works via their conceptions, titles, palettes, and materials. Wilson’s newer work interprets the tomb inscriptions he encountered while traveling to Egypt, allowing him to explore his own personal history.