“I have been making work with found metal, paper collage and collage with encaustic wax for thirty years. My interest in art began at age fifteen and led me to college, where I studied printmaking.
After settling in New Paltz and raising my family, I began working with metal. I returned to college to study metalsmithing and later discovered encaustics. Adding this new tool to my work, I began working with collaged sculpture using found metals.
In this piece, the dress of the figure is made from a metal breadbox. I decided to follow the theme of the images on this box and have the figure holding a cup of tea.
I like using the figure in my work because we are all figures. This fact immediately gives us a way to relate to the work. The found metal I incorporate into my work has a past history, which is then absorbed to add new richness.”
Judith Hoyt obtained a BFA in printmaking from the State University of New York at New Paltz, with further studies in metals. She has received fellowships and awards for her work, which has been published in numerous books and catalogs featuring found art, such as Found Objects by Dorothy Spencer.
Her work has been featured in many exhibitions focusing on recycled content and is in the permanent collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.