Artist Statement
Aaron Alfano 26 Maple Ave. Haliburton, Ontario, Canada alfano4@hotmail.com
I like to think of my work as narrative in visual form. I am attracted to the stories that we tell and the theme and tone that embed these tales. My work is largely experimental and often relies on abstraction, rather than representation. This allows me to work primarily with colour and shape, and forces me to let the materials speak for themselves. I seek a relationship between the parts and attempt to bring them together intuitively; rooting out harmony and finding those things that hang in the balance. I do not know the stories I tell until I see the parts laid bare on the canvas; an earthy colour, a segment of line, or an arrangement of shapes. I notice these events as they unfold and suggest the next sequence. I try to allow the medium to tell the story and act only as the voice through which the actors might speak. My work with canvas, flour resist, and acrylic wash has revealed an older human story; one in which my time as a junior archaeologist has informed. It speaks to me of texture and imperfection; of hand-made things brought back from another age. The washes are like stains from rotting things; appearing sunbleached on the canvas when they dry. The subtle cracks of the resist allow the washes to seep in and mar the raw canvas beneath; creating organic breaks in the otherwise clean lines. I see these pieces as artefacts; the product of techniques buried under time and loosened from the soil; still dusty and smelling of decay.
Biography
Aaron Alfano Aaron Alfano is a prospective artist hailing from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. His interest in narrative and the human experience is a driving force in his art. From a young age, he has been interested in storytelling and spent many late nights indulging in the fictitious worlds of fantasy novels and computer role playing games. At Pine Ridge Secondary School, he found the real world examples of those fantastic stories in an ancient civilizations course. The pencil was never far from reach however, and it was not enough to simply visualize the past; it was always a great delight to give them life through pictures. Aaron began his post-secondary school career in earnest, receiving a BAH in archaeology from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. The combination of ancient artifacts and deep human stories attracted him to the field and he enjoyed several seasons as a field archaeologist working in Belize and Canada. While on digs, he often sidled up with the artifact illustrator and was granted the opportunity to spend his time drawing ancient stone tools and temple facades. Always looming however was the knowledge that creating art was his true passion and that the rigors of academia would always impinge on his creative interests. Desiring ever more freedom to create without restriction, he enrolled at HSAD in 2016 and currently enjoys full-time student status there.
Aaron Alfano’s Instagram: alfano4 https://www.instagram.com/alfano4/
Curriculum Vitae Education 2012 BAH Archaeology, Trent University
Solo Exhibition 2017 I Made It! 2017 Concept Development Installation
Group Exhibition 2017 Artist Games
Aaron Alfano
The Marker Acrylic on Canvas 2017 7 x 4in
Boreas Acrylic on Canvas 2017 7 x 4in
The Magi Acrylic on Canvas 2017 7 x 4in
Herring Bone Acrylic on Canvas 2017 28 x 12in
East Acrylic on Canvas 2017 28 x 12in
Top
Cleft Head Acrylic on Canvas 2017 36 x 11in
Bottom
Tutelary Spirits Acrylic on Canvas 2017 36 x 11in
Swidden Acrylic and Ink on Canvas 2017 18 x 9in
Ill-Defined Material Acrylic and Ink on Canvas 2017 18 x 9in
Sneferu’s Legacy Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas 2017 12 x 6.5 in