Aaron Moran
(b.1986, Burnaby, BC)
Lives and works in the Fraser Valley, BC
Aaron’s work reactivates discarded materials and deserted spaces. He is interested in what happens to building materials, household objects, and natural vegetation once they have been discarded. He spends a lot of time walking through suburban neighbourhoods, drawing inspiration from nature, architecture, and fenced-off spaces destined for future development. Abandoned houses and demolished buildings are used as backdrops for his photographs of site-specific works, and sources for the reclaimed wood used in his assemblages.
Aaron’s works utilizes organization, repetition, and stacking to create visually engaging pieces from materials that most would consider to be garbage. Aaron’s assemblages and in-situ sculptures use colour, texture, and shape in the same way a painter composes an image. Given the nature of the reclaimed materials, the difference lies in his use of found colours, and found textures.
In his assemblages, the age, wear-and-tear, and patina of the reclaimed wood speak to the discarded nature of the materials being used, and his interest in reusing what is thrown away. In his outdoor installations, stacking and public arrangements use the visual language of public-sculpture but by using discarded debris and temporary compositions (none of the materials are secured together), the pieces feel less monumental, and more like a moment in time. Whether composed of wood, bricks, household objects, or natural vegetation, the pieces encourage a re-examination of what is considered waste, and our relationships with these objects and environments.
Aaron Moran CV
EDUCATION
2015 MFA/ University of Windsor/ Windsor ON
2007 BFA/ Emily Carr University of Art + Design/ Vancouver BC
EXHIBITIONS
2020
TAS: Art To The People / The Art Shop/ Vancouver, BC/ Group Show
Anti-Social / Yactac / Vancouver BC/ group show
2018
What Got Left Behind / Roundhouse Arts Centre (Window Gallery)/Vancouver BC /solo show
The Contemporary Sandwich Shop / Art Gallery of Windsor / Windsor ON/ group show
Upcycling / Pitt Meadows Art Gallery / Pitt Meadows BC/ group show
Print Ready 2018 / Dynamo Arts Association / Vancouver BC/ group show
2017
Spheres of Influence / El Kartel / Vancouver BC/ group show
2016
Exhibition Under Development (w/ Amelia Epp) / Maple Ridge ACT, Maple Ridge BC/ solo show
CASV Finalist's Exhibition: Emerging Artist Prize /Access Gallery/ Vancouver BC/ group show
2015
Before the Vista Opened up I was Tired of the Ride/Ed Lumley Centre/ Windsor ON/ solo show
Views From The South Bank III /Surrey Art Gallery/ Surrey BC/ group showGross Density Parcel /AgentC Projects/ Surrey BC/ group show
2014
Object Object /Helmuth Projects/ San Diego CA/ group show
Paradise/Ayden Gallery/ Vancouver BC/ group show
2013
Kite Contest/ El Kartel/ Vancouver BC/ solo show
Drawing Expo 13/ Dynamo Arts Association/ Vancouver BC/ group show
Off The Wall/Mirus Gallery/ San Francisco CA/ group show
What Painting Can Be/ Elissa Cristall Gallery/ Vancouver BC/ group show
2012
Development Proposal/ Blim/ Vancouver BC/ solo show
Fresh Paint/ Elissa Cristall Gallery/ Vancouver BC/ group show
Spectator, And Not Life/ Shudder Gallery/ Vancouver BC/ group show
Dream Continuum/ Circuit12 Contemporary/ Dallas TX/ group show
2011
Mountains & Mountains (w/ Russell Leng)/ Catalog Gallery/ Vancouver BC/ solo show
Monument(al)/ East Van Studios/ Vancouver BC/ group show
Psychic Plaza/ Shudder Gallery/ Vancouver BC/ group show
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2020
Flat Space, Flatlands Press, Chicago IL (print)
2018
Construction Knitting, (Nikki Gabriel, author), Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., ISBN: 9781472575739, London UK (print)
2016
‘Aaron Moran: Notes on Process‘, Discorder (March 2016), Vancouver BC (print)
2015
‘Creative Memory’ (Rhys Edwards, writer), Gross Density Parcel (Catalogue), Surrey BC (print)
'The Craft Companion' (Ramona Barry & Rebecca Jobson ed.), Thames & Hudson ISBN:9780500500521, Melbourne AU (print)
2014
‘The Rebuilder’ (Emily Fitzpatrick, interviewer), Carousel Magazine (2014 Winter / Spring), ISSN0835-7994, London ON (print)
2013
Geometry Makes Me Happy, Index Book ISBN:978-84-15308-39-3, Barcelona ES (print)
2012
‘Art Project: Aaron Moran’, Discorder (July 2012), Vancouver BC (print)
‘Reclaiming Refuse: Aaron Moran’ (Randy Grscovick, writer), Oops Magazine, Vol. 15 #3, Vancouver BC (print)
SELECTED AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS
2016
Finalist, Emerging Artist Prize, Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver, Vancouver BC
Project Assistance Grant for Visual Arts, British Columbia Arts Council
2014
Canadian Graduate Scholarship, SSHRC
