Ernest Aaron Untitled

The painting depicts a dense crowd of figures in the landscape, pictured through a pattern of highly contrasted, interlocking, black and white shapes. The image shifts between representation and abstraction in the eye of the beholder depending on their viewing distance. From afar the subject is discernable; however, from close-range the subject dissolves into a collection of meaningless abstract shapes and brush marks. These two perceptible states encourage the audience to engage with the painting on both physical and psychological levels. The work therefore addresses the importance of the viewer – the perceiving body – in relation to the artwork.

Ernest Aaron, 2012