Eric Aho: Sundial

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Eric Aho’s paintings employ sumptuous color and energetic gesture to convey an abstract vision of landscape that blends the seen with the imagined. Using loaded brushes, he conveys this relationship with an expressive sensibility that alludes to the forms and forces of nature, abstracted through the prism of his memory over a career of more than 30 years. The results are energetic reflections of the artist’s experience of what he calls "sacred conversations,” evoking the visuals, sounds, and fragrances of trees, water, sky, and wind.

The exhibition title, Sundial, references ancient ways that we have used light to concretely measure the passage of time—and in a way, understand our place in the universe. From the simple ephemeral play of light and shadow, the sundial records the momentary effects of the elemental forces of nature. Throughout Aho’s paintings, the sun’s light—direct, reflected in moonlight, or dabbled in forests—illuminates his scenes and shapes his imagery.

While the exhibition title references ancient methods of time keeping, an important aspect of Aho’s work deals with the role of nature in our contemporary world. Even though we may often view nature as a place to escape, if briefly, from everyday life, Aho also holds that nature remains a significant and undeniable part of the human experience itself—no matter how apparently separate it may seem. “The landscape and nature, in general, is part of our DNA,” Aho has said. “In that way, by reconstructing nature as a painting, the artist and the viewer have a physical and emotional experience that comes from something deep within us.”