Cortex rebith
AARON BROADBENT
I Met AARon on groundhog day.
It was at a mutual friend’s vegan chili and viewing party of the movie groundhogday (95). as we watched Bill murray struggle through the same day over, and over, and Over—the film actually on repeat, we spoke of the typical struggle to keep up with life, work, and keeping an art practice.
Over a year later I met AARon at his home studio in the By-water. He had a new approach to painting. There stood two very large, peices on wood, grain patterns filled with Vibrant color. He had used water based wood stain in bright blues and yellows, balanced with warm browns and greys. Aaron has an eye for stlish yet effective color. You are drawn, and pushed at different moments. Meditative, flowing, gliding, slow and wandering- almost like watching a river. There is movement and stillness. The effect makes visible nature’s sway on life’s growth.
I like to call them “water paintings”, from the water based stain, and the effect caused by the availability of water in a year. Aaron’s approach makes immediately visible some piece of living: growth’s wax and wane in delicate demarkations.
some ground hog days between our meeting and this show, aaron has made breakthroughs in his struggle - opening his first llc as an independent builder, plumber, and handyman, and creating a new body of work for his first solo show for dogwater gallery. what Bill Murray taught us and aaron embodies— is that we should not meet our days with frustration, but gratitude and an eye focused on growth.
AARon is comfortable and open when it comes to talking about the challenges of his own life; Looking back at habits left behind, and sharing his experience of this new way of life. As simple as I can tell it: be optimistic and hopeful. move towards the future you want one step at a time. This lesson is told also in his work using the patience of a growing tree.
Since this show premiered, Aaron continues to work on wood grain paintings;
exploring use of space, text, and form.
Enjoy Cortex Rebith!
ABOUT AARON BROADBENT
I am an artist, one whose art practice is paintings-centric. I approach artmaking as liberating research about perceptions of reality.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. While I was living in their homes, my mother emphasized the significance of spirituality and learning, and my father encouraged exploration of the arts and protection of the environment.
After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design's undergraduate Painting program and halfway through the Teaching + Learning in Art and Design master's program, the Covid-19 Pandemic began. In response, I changed course from Children's Museum Exhibit Design to various employment in construction fields such as Carpentry, Plumbing, and Handyperson-ing. I was searching out how to apply the skills I was developing as an artist to urgent needs of people in the world.
During those five years, a relationship with wood took root and is beginning to blossom in one part of my art practice. Also during that time, it became apparent to me that the challenges of the world to which we can contribute the most benefit are the ones we can relate to with personal experience.
Fine art painting and work in construction have revealed many layers of our reality which were previously invisible to me. The work I am currently most interested in making is that which aims to direct attention to the present moment, providing opportunities for internal recalibration within a world that is often overstimulating.
Artist portraits by
SELwyn FIGG @dadwoman
