Margaret Noel studied studio art and anthropology at Oberlin College, and earned her MFA in painting from the New York Studio School. She currently splits her time between her position as chair of the Department of Art & Design at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and her studio in New York. Noel’s most recent encaustic paintings trace the gradual reconstruction of cities after disasters, both natural and man-made. The paintings fuse alternating layers of cut paper, soot and beeswax into forms that underline the fragility of the aging infrastructure that we rely on for safety and security. Her studio is in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn, NY.