Daniel Aragon
Exhibiting through April at the Stronghouse Studios + Gallery.
aragonecologic@gmail.com
“The pattern languages of nature, mimicry of natural systems and processes, and innovation of appropriate technology all speak to the essence of inventing life affirming processes to attain our basic needs. I hope my work can inspire and instruct real world engagement.”
Art is closely linked to problem solving. I find the creative process to be most vibrant when working towards a sublime conclusion, yet starting very far away. This approach is a setup for deep deliberation and inquiry. In this way, making art cannot escape a certain pragmatism – helping me to travel intellectually from uncertainty and imbalance to their opposites. The themes of my work have been inspired greatly by permaculture design, organic agriculture, and the sustainability movement. The pattern languages of nature, mimicry of natural systems and processes, and innovation of appropriate technology all speak to the essence of inventing life affirming processes to attain our basic needs. I hope my work can inspire and instruct real world engagement. I work in numerous mediums from the built and cultivated environment to painting and drawing. My most pragmatic of mediums are livable dwellings and edible ecosystems which draw directly from architecture, landscaping, ecology, and sociology. When I create paintings they represent an integration of lessons learned from the other mediums and an idealized conclusion. I choose to paint with water color because I enjoy the premeditated design and repetitive layering of color and texture. It also exposes its essence – water, the most vital of elements.
