Silent Resilience: Encaustic Feminism in Fragments of Silence

Abstract

This article analyses four encaustic paintings from the Fragments of Silence painting collection as a visual manifesto for intersectional feminist topics, addressing labour inequality, Islamophobia, ageism, and body image pressures. These works draw on two principal studies: Byung-Chul Han's critique of social transparency, where superficial visibility fragments more profound truths, and Tim Jackson's Prosperity without Growth, which emphasises resilience over material excess. These visually compelling paintings, in line with contemporary preferences for the pleasing over the harsh, hide a word of encouragement that emerges upon close observation. A QR code accompanying each title leads to a PDF that reveals the full AI-generated image, confronting viewers with the stark realities of gender struggles that society often shuns. The multiple layers and tactile quality of encaustic disrupt passive interaction, critiquing the leveraging of identity and promoting inclusive and proactive narratives. This study contributes to artistic discourse by demonstrating how the fusion of ancient techniques, such as encaustic, with new digital image-generating AI presents a challenging aesthetic vision for addressing genderrelated issues.