Department of Art
I paint expressions of affection for urban landscapes, specifically, for the electrical light sources that are dispersed throughout the concrete. There is much to hate about a city; garbage piling up on streets, cold gray as far as the eye can see, buildings suffocatingly close together. However, I can't help but love the delicate reflections on asphalt or the coziness of an orange street light guiding me home. There is beauty even in utilitarian light fixtures if you look for it. Everyone has felt comfortably lonely under streetlights in the night. Cities are constantly buzzing, and they’re built for movement, leaving many places in a state of constant change. I take “snapshots” of a scene in a particular moment in time, which would have only been visible to one or two people, and I freeze it so that everyone can enjoy the details that would otherwise go unrecorded.
I choose limited color palettes and simple shapes so that the intricate splashes of light are emphasized and the atmosphere is not distracted from. My paintings are generally large, which makes them feel all the more empty and lonely. Through the mixture of photo reference, memory reference, and totally imagined ideas, the scenes are detailed and specific while still being relatable to all who have set foot in a city. With a quiet, still mood, the paintings invite you to stop for a minute and just breathe. Allow the moment to settle around your shoulders like a warm blanket. Then, you can go back to the buzz and the movement with a renewed sense of peace and a newfound fondness for the streetlights towering above you.
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Aerin believes that the everyday minutiae of life can be one of the most beautiful subjects to work with, and that life itself can be one of the most fulfilling mediums. Aerin is primarily focused on painting and completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks currently, however, they consider themself to be a multi-disciplinary artist, with their interests ranging from music to drawing to digital animation.
With their current focus on electric lights and abandoned streets, Aerin paints what they describe as "love letters" to Fairbanks, Alaska, the city they've spent their entire adult life in. Although Fairbanks has been their home since early 2016, Aerin grew up in a small nearby town, Nenana. Growing up surrounded by the snow and trees of Alaska had a deep impact on their aesthetic tastes, and their fascination with the urban landscape only grew after their move to Fairbanks.
