Acrylics on beeswax impregnated Japanese paper

I have been examining a large contemporary art work realized with
acrylics on Japanese paper impregnated with beeswax. The work shows
severe conservation issues due to the deterioration of wax material.

The wax medium has rendered the surface of the work slightly tacky
making it attractive to dust and particulate matters. I am
particularly alarmed about the spread of several large areas of
white efflorescence. The work presents also several disfiguring
tears running along the edges. I was wandering if anybody came
across the treatment of similar works and could help me answering
the following questions:

    What kind of surface cleaning technique would be the most
    suitable to remove the dust?

    Does anyone have any suggestions and experience to reduce the
    white efflorescence and stop its formation?

    What adhesives could be safely used for the tear repair?

    Could anybody suggest me a useful bibliography regarding
    conservation treatments of wax impregnated paper?

I would greatly appreciate any comments people may have on this
subject.

Elisabetta Polidori
Paper Conservation Intern
National
Gallery of Victoria
PO Box 7259 Melbourne
Victoria 8004
Australia


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:20
                 Distributed: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-22-20-019
                                  ***