Aaron David Smith - Artist's Statement
Palimpsest, a word
derived from Latin and Ancient Greek, is a tablet from a scroll
where the text or ideas have been "scraped" or "marked" off in
order to be reused. These tablets, often documenting
the current laws, ideas, philosophies, and social strata of the
time, in essence simply become the "underwriting" for the future.
They show both visually and metaphorically how the present is
balancing a combination constructed on the vestiges of the past and
a created invention of possibilities for the future.
Faint remains and traces of the former writing are illegible yet endure as visible textures and unerasable markings. This is where the palimpsest harnesses its power. It is the echo of truth, yet never settling for a fixed version of it.
My work, through it's process, deconstructs recognizable forms as a way to explore the freedom from ideology or "truth", yet being aware that the break must reference the recognizable form. Scraping, marking, building, painting, underpainting, and layering I construct and retrace the palimpsest through a collective of visual language. Through the physicality of movement textures arise in my work as an exploration of the material recollections of history.
Printable Version of Smith Artist's Statement
©2011 Pippin Contemporary Fine Art | All Rights Reserved
Pippin Contemporary is an abstract art gallery located in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the corner of the world-famous Canyon Road and Paseo
de Peralta. Pippin Contemporary is a sensory experience of color and mood showing local as well as international artists. Pippin Contemporary fine art gallery
in Santa Fe, New Mexico, focuses toward abstracts with some abstracted landscapes and figurative work, amazing glass sculptures, as well as bronze, stainless steel, kinetic sculpture.
order to be reused. These tablets, often documenting
the current laws, ideas, philosophies, and social strata of the
time, in essence simply become the "underwriting" for the future.
They show both visually and metaphorically how the present is
balancing a combination constructed on the vestiges of the past and
a created invention of possibilities for the future.Faint remains and traces of the former writing are illegible yet endure as visible textures and unerasable markings. This is where the palimpsest harnesses its power. It is the echo of truth, yet never settling for a fixed version of it.
My work, through it's process, deconstructs recognizable forms as a way to explore the freedom from ideology or "truth", yet being aware that the break must reference the recognizable form. Scraping, marking, building, painting, underpainting, and layering I construct and retrace the palimpsest through a collective of visual language. Through the physicality of movement textures arise in my work as an exploration of the material recollections of history.
Printable Version of Smith Artist's Statement