-These are few selected works from the last year or so.
These pieces started as an exploration of the size and scope of the natural world (specifically the Pacific Northwest) and the feeling of awe being submersed in them gave me. But soon the subject matter brought me back home to Chicago whose size and scope is much more familiar but altogether less certain and comforting than that of the natural world.
In maneuvering through the physical and social world of this city I found my uncertainty with it all manifest as wolves, animals that I (at least at first) was not sure how I felt about. As the body of work grows I am becoming more comfortable with the wolves, and recent trip to California left me inspired to continue on the path only needing these wolves more than ever. They started as a symbolic way of trying to express some more personal elements and have become almost guide animals that allow me to go to new places artistically. Although I am not sure the exact meaning of these animals, they are currently guiding me through the work I am making.
I paint with acrylics, and almost exclusively of wood. I use only found wood from my home town of Chicago. That habit started for financial reasons, but the act of going out and finding the right piece has become a part the process I cherish and in a way it allows me to create with pieces of this city. The acrylics I use are thin and dry fast and allow me to layer and layer as paint. I enjoy the physical aspect of working and reworking pieces, and the sturdiness of the wood allows me to lean into the work more, although I have broken more than a few easels over the years. — John Airo