Aaron Johnson’s paintings straddle the balance between unpredictability and control, abstraction and figuration, painterly blurs and minimalist hard-edges. Using a technique of staining the raw canvas, Johnson investigates the fluidity of shapes, forms and colors and the interconnectedness that manifests in between. Multitudes of creatures or figures emerge from the washes of pigment, staring elusively or at times in a soft embrace as different colors bleed from one figure to the next. Paying homage to color field painting and expressionist figuration, Johnson approaches his work as a deep visual experience underlined by a personal understanding of the unpredictability of his own subconscious. His work explores a wide range of human experiences as he depicts each eccentric form charged with a certain aura of darkness and light. 

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, in 1975, Aaron Johnson currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA. He holds an MFA from Hunter College, New York, 2005.