Nest, oil on aluminum, 60”x60”x4”
Ascent, oil on aluminum, 47.5”x47.5x3”
Shuffle, oil on aluminum, 36”x97”x3” (2 panels)
Proving Ground, oil on aluminum, 24”x45”x3” (2 panels)
Flicker (17-20), oil on aluminum, four panels 8”x8”x3” each
Installation view of Safe Passage, oil on aluminum, 52”x133”x3” (10 panels)
Artist’s Statement by Aaron Petersen
There is a simple structure upon which I build each painting: control and chaos, this balance of looseness and control becomes the foundation I build upon.
In my version of our environments, I study aspects of being human in regard to how we navigate ourselves, culture and our world; not just the grids of civilization and nature-based imagery, but also notions of the unseen. I attempt to crash a playful sense of color and mark making into something verging on the unsettling. The oozing, dripping, whizzing marks suggest a pending eruption or the steady motion of a churning process indicative of generation and regeneration.
I am fascinated with the dialogue created as disparate worlds collide. My aim is to give the viewer a glimpse into an unseen world that surrounds us daily, even as I find myself bewitched by the beauty, lusciousness and mystery of the paint itself.