Culture Now: Aaron Angell

A lunchtime talk with artist Aaron Angell, in conversation with curator Tom Morton.

Working primarily in ceramic sculpture, wall drawings, and painting, Aaron Angell considers his work to be largely produced through the psychical accretion of specific interests. Rather than attempt to provide coherent context and meaning, he prefers to aim at the inherent oddness of the materials with which he works.

Pieces are produced through a process of 'composting', whereby influences and imagery are drawn together and allowed to 'rot down'. Drawing on the Latin root of the word ‘compost’, compositus - literally 'something put together’, Angell views this as ‘an imperfect, incomplete and unscientific process’ in opposition to the distillation or ‘alchemical’ ideas expounded in much contemporary and Modern art.

Pieces are shown whether broken, unexpected in their appearance, or frustratingly unattractive. Any meaning or context is produced with reference to the whole of his practice rather than individual pieces of work. His influences include 'folk' or non-canonical history, the imagery of British psychedelic music, the instrumental system of the Raga and its counterparts in Western culture, medievalism, and hobbyist cultures.