Current
"The Neural Architecture Sees Itself in Patterns”
Paintings by John Aiken
September 6-29, 2107
John has been working since 2011 with no formal instruction. He attempts, in this series, to allow the patterns of the neural architecture to see themselves. Creating this work has been a reparative process. He hopes that people viewing the work see that humanity is more than its destructive capacities. He does not use a computer, but works intuitively and by hand with ink and liquid acrylic to create these geometric abstractions.
John is a New Hampshire native and a retired cabinetmaker.
Artist Statement
I wish to thank you for taking precious moments of your time to share with me. The current moment always seems to pass somewhere between fleet and the interminably long.
The images that have now found their way to your viewing emerged as a visual narrative that has been reparative for me. We are, each of us, familiar with our seemingly limitless capacity for harm to ourselves, and to our world. For some, this has proven to be much too painfully intimate.
Yet, there always lies in wait the possibility of assuaging the seemingly unrelenting pain. My work has come as a result of having wandered rather aimlessly through the dark labyrinth of my past. The seductive feeling of inescapability had become prevalent, and the notion of eventual emergence had assumed a dormancy from which an awakening seemed not to be.
It was here that the wondrous and inexplicable realm of the unconscious began to stir, clearly wishing to makes its presence known. Not with words, but rather with a visual language. This was to be a shared language in an attempt to convey to others, to you perhaps, that we are so much more than our violent destruction. We possess a potentially limitless capacity to heal through creativity. I believe that in no small way, artisans have become the proverbial finger in the dyke.
So, again I thank you for sharing your time with me. I sincerely hope that it has proven brief respite from your daily clutter.
