Wax Cathedral
Nov. 2, 2026 - Feb. 15, 2027
Wax Cathedral is a glance into a world we have yet to visit; the beehive. The body of artwork celebrates the sisterhood and hard work of honeybees in North America. Capturing their sainthood of agriculture and modern struggles against incursion of mites, fungi and disease with beekeepers as watchful guardians of the hive.
Cathedrals are seen as hallowed ground. When individuals walk through the threshold of the sanctuary, they are transported to a safe place of spiritual solace. Cathedrals embellish every detail in their interior, allowing daily worries and hardships to dissipate. It creates an unworldly and beautiful place, as though you were in heaven itself.
Just as these spiritual institutions are maintained amongst a community of like-minded individuals, so is the hive of the honeybees. The unique fortress is founded on hard work and communication. It serves as an escape from predators and treachery. The worker bees build their interior with careful yet creative consideration. The resilience shown in both the honeybees and beekeeper community have been the foundation of my artistic inspiration. Although the enemies of mites, fungi and disease threaten the bee’s hallowed sanctuary, the beekeepers find ways to repair and mend these colonies with research and patience.
Katharine Schmidt is a printmaker based in Des Moines, Iowa, working primarily in woodblock and linoleum relief since 2014. In 2019, she began incorporating the alchemical properties of encaustic painting into her practice, culminating in the Wax Cathedral. Artistic influences draw from Art Nouveau’s celebration of organic forms as well as cultural anthropology.
Schmidt earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art and Visual Culture from Iowa State University in 2015, with an emphasis in printmaking and painting. Her work has been exhibited in national group exhibitions, as well as solo and group shows throughout Iowa and Missouri.
Photo credits: Species: Russian Honey Bee, Katharine Schmidt, Encaustic, Linoleum print
