Aaron Glasson

Aaron Glasson (b Auckland, 1983) is a New Zealand-born multi-disciplinary artist. Since completing a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Design at the Auckland University of Technology in 2005 he has been exhibiting and creating public artworks internationally. His diverse portfolio comprises participatory installations, paintings, drawings, sculpture, architecture, assemblage, murals and film.

Though working in a diverse array of mediums Glasson has developed an abstract visual language that unifies his practice as a whole. His paintings rooted in geometry but inspired by time spent in the wilderness offer glimpses into micro and macro environments. Similar forms are applied to large-scale interactive site-specific installations that encourage viewer engagement and participation as well as functional objects that explore art’s practical potential outside of traditional contexts.

At the core of Glasson’s practice is a devotion to investigating ideas within nature and ecology while critiquing our place and role within it. This is reflected in his material experiments with natural materials such as found pigments made with rock, rust and charcoals. Hand-made paints and plant dyes, to large-scale bricolage installations crafted with discarded objects. Examples include Sumbiology Archive, a public library and learning centre installed inside ICA made entirely from repurposed materials in which viewers contributed their art to the gallery walls. MH-1 (Migration Home 1) a conceptual human-powered mobile home designed to provide autonomy for users living within the escalating environmental challenges of the 21st century, and Jana Koya, an abandoned desert cabin built in 1956 that Glasson along with artist P McCarthy restored using repurposed and environmentally responsible materials. The cabin now functions as an Artist Residency, offering creatives a studio and workshop in the Mojave Desert as well as opportunities to connect with the local creative community.

Glasson has worked as an artist extensively within numerous environmentalism efforts, community organisations and educational institutions, using his art as a tool for connection and learning. He has taught in the art departments of San Diego State University and the Academy of Design in Colombo Sri Lanka. His art has been in group exhibitions at the East Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art, the Oceanside Museum of Art, Heron Arts, Maia Contemporary, Goodmother Gallery, Spoke Art, the Straat Museum along with solo exhibitions at ICA San Diego, Swish Projects, Louis Buhl & Co and Curators Cube. In 2024 Aaron will have solo exhibitions at Maia Contemporary in Mexico City and NOTA in Shiga, Japan.