Rinat Goren’s admiration for individuals who think deeply and act with intention is reflected in both her abstract and figurative paintings. Born and raised in Israel, she was always drawn to observing the world around her and creating art. However, it wasn’t until after graduating college, relocating to California, and raising a family that she fully embraced her artistic calling. At that point, Rinat chose to devote herself wholeheartedly to her practice as an artist.
Her work is inspired by those who use their minds - who think critically, form clear thoughts, make decisions, and take deliberate action. She sees this cognitive ability as a powerful and uniquely human trait. Through her paintings, Rinat encourages viewers to recognize and cultivate this quality within themselves.
About the Encaustic Medium
Rinat Goren often works with encaustic, a medium that blends beeswax and pigment. The process involves melting the wax and applying it in layers to a surface, then using heat to fuse the layers into a unified composition.
While Goren’s style is contemporary, encaustic is one of the oldest known painting techniques. The term encaustic comes from the Latin word meaning “to burn” or “to fuse,” a reference to the heat required to bond the wax layers.
Dating back to the 5th century B.C., Greek artists used encaustic for various purposes—including painting the hulls of ships. The technique gained artistic relevance when someone added pigment to the wax, transforming a waterproofing agent into a creative medium.
Among the most renowned encaustic works are the Fayum funeral portraits, created in Egypt during the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. by Greek-Roman painters. More than 900 of these portraits were discovered by British archaeologists in the late 19th century.
Though the medium waned during the Middle Ages, it was revived in the 20th century with the advent of electric tools. Jasper Johns is often credited with its modern resurgence, though artists like Diego Rivera used encaustic even earlier in both paintings and murals. Today, artists like Rinat Goren continue to push the medium forward, blending its rich history with a fresh, contemporary voice.
Galleries representing Rinat Goren
Whitney Modern, Los Gatos, CA
Stems, Morgan Hill, CA