Once a month I will be showcasing the talents of colleagues in the art world and I am very happy to introduce you to Christine Aaron, a friend and Vice President of the Mamaroneck Artists’ Guild in Larchmont, New York. Christine uses a variety of different media and techniques, often using tree imagery and layering to show the passage of time. I’m sure you will find, as I do, that her work is both intriguing and insightful!

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Hello! I am happy to be able to share a bit about myself and my work on Alison’s blog!
Christine Aaron
I entered the art world on the later side, having first practiced social work for many years. After my first foray with a few watercolor classes nearly 19 years ago, I found myself increasingly challenged by and interested in exploring through the vehicle of art. After  years of wearing many hats, I left my job and became an artist full time. I find that my background in social work directly affects the themes I am exploring in my work, and love that art is able to challenge me on both an intellectual and emotional level.

My current work focuses on themes of memory, perception and the inevitable passage of time. In my most recent body of work, I use tree imagery as symbolic of human memory and experience. Trees mark time; they serve as a metaphor for the cycle of life, symbols of dormancy, growth, strength and renewal. They record these life cycles in their rings. These marks remain hidden from view, much the way that humans retain the physical, mental and emotional marks of personal experience.

Christine Aaron

The themes I investigate directly affect the mediums with which I choose to work. I employ a variety of mediums, and really enjoy exploring the possibilities within each. I choose media where traces of the process remain in the work, as well as those that allow me to layer, obscure and reveal the imagery.

In the piece below I used printmaking and encaustic because they allow me to develop the piece through layering, much the way human memory and perceptions are formed. I use indirect methods of image making, and embed, construct, deconstruct and layer imagery, approximating the way humans revisit, recreate and reevaluate their own memories and experiences.

Christine Aaron

The piece below is on aged mirror. I love the way the piece shifts and changes before the viewer’s eyes as the viewer’s position shifts. It’s hard to see in a 2D image but the surface has a mysterious and mercurial sensibility.

Christine Aaron

Yet another material I enjoy manipulating, are metal substrates. Currently I am using copper and steel, as both allow me to patinate and oxidize the surfaces so that time itself becomes a part of the final composition of the piece. There is an immediacy and an unpredictability to working on these surfaces that allows for a conversation between the imagery, the mediums and the surfaces.

Christine Aaron

Christine Aaron

In preparing for my recent solo exhibit at the Silvermine Gallery in New Canaan Ct this last September, I embarked on my first installation and more sculptural pieces. I wanted the viewer to actually be able to move through the work, and become part of another world. I included audio for the first time (a variable audible, overlapping, multitrack recording of people sharing personal, significant memories, layered with ambient sounds of wind and rain through trees). I also worked on tree slices, stumps, and found wood. These pieces were a solid counterpart to the ethereal nature of the sheer panels that gently moved as viewers walked through them. It was exciting to bring this idea to life and I am hoping to create a larger installation of this work at another venue in the future.

Christine Aaron

Christine Aaron

Thank you so much for letting my share my work with you!

If you’d like to see more, the following links will be helpful:
Website: www.christineaaron.com
Interview: http://lynettehaggard.blogspot.com/2013_10_01_archive.html
Video of Installation with Audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io1Zj8Y6y5w
Catalog with essay: http://christineaaron.com/artistInfo/christi3/biblio/1.pdf?1478

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Thank you Christine!

Until next time…

Alison

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