Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Degruyter
Hi Aaron, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve loved creating art since being a little kid and therefore always preferred art class in school despite being told it was not a very viable “career” path. Believing this narrative, I took a brief hiatus from making art and during that time I was dealing with some mental health issues while in the military. Ultimately, my mental anguish led me back to art and when I got out of the military I started attending NMSU in my hometown of Las Cruces, New Mexico to pursue an art degree. Shortly after graduating I was offered a job at a screenprint shop in Austin and made the move. In Austin I found an art community that fully embraced me and a community at large that understood my need to make art and appreciated it. Pursuing art hasn’t been the easiest path for me, but the positive therapeutic effects drove me to follow my dreams no matter the obstacle. Nowadays, I seek to inspire others to chase their dreams by showing that it’s possible if you believe in yourself.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Pursuing art for me has not been the smoothest road, there have been challenges along the way. I used to get frustrated and sad by these challenges but as I continue to persist I have started to embrace the challenges as they help me to evolve. From an early age people told me that art was a difficult path and that an easier path might be preferred, I took this to heart for a while and tried pursuing other endeavors but always came back to art.
Another obstacle I’ve faced is finding my artistic voice. It has taken me decades to develop the visual language necessary to translate my emotions and experiences into a physical visually representational object. Along the way my art has taken on different “looks” and imitated lots of things that came before it. Through constant experimentation and intuition I feel like I’m finally settling into a visual language that does a good job at translating the ideas in my head into a painting that evokes emotion.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an illustrator, printmaker, and more recently a painter. I found printmaking in school and have been in love ever since. I currently work part time at a screenprint shop where I get to print the work of other artists which often sparks ideas in my own work. My boss also graciously allows me to use the print facilities to produce some of my own fine art screen prints. About 3 years ago I started making wood cutouts with plywood and a jigsaw as a way to exercise my creative muscle in a new medium and also to connect to my late grandpa who enjoyed woodworking. I fell in love with cutting shapes out of wood and also with painting. I started making narrative paintings on wood panels after this and for now find this to be the most fulfilling as well as effective in translating my ideas.
I find inspiration in the deserts of Southern New Mexico where I was born and raised and often depict the desert and flora and fauna from the area in my work. I am also intensely fascinated with the human body as it is the vessel in which I utilize to navigate this reality of mine. I make a lot of work that explores the dynamic relationship between life and death and what it means to be a human full of emotions experiencing grandiosity on a daily basis. I also make very personal work, speaking to my specific experiences but presented in a way that can be felt by and interpreted by different individuals.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Follow your dreams, be vulnerable, embrace emotion, and lead with love.
Easier said than done, but important to hear.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aarondegruyter.com
- Instagram: @aarondegruyter
