Blake Aaseby

Who I Am

Blake Aaseby is an artist based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his MFA in Studio: Drawing & Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his BFA in Visual Arts from Azusa Pacific University. His work is shown throughout the country and is represented by Uprise Art in New York and Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago.

Artist Statement:
At its core, my work is an attempt to understand location and place through mapping, memory, and story. Using a push and pull of painted planes, line, and layered shapes, each piece becomes a convoluted retelling of a simple story.

My work leans into the impossibility of fully sharing memories by highlighting moments we tend to forget, ones that blend together, and the others that pass us by.

Within my oil paintings, I aim to present the viewer with a map of both past and present, a landscape that is fading and forming. The detailed and time-consuming underpaintings are quickly lost to a passing gesture of oil only to be uncovered again with a carved network of documented and recalled shapes.

My series, Placeholder, is a collection of textile inspired drawings aimed at exploring both the different types and stages of memory through mark-making, rhythm, and pattern. The repetitive process and restricted range of motion gives space for the mind to wander as the pieces live as maps themselves, navigating past and present moments. The drawings act as a catalyst to retrieve, blend together, and store different types of memory for both artist and viewer. Holding equal weight, the interaction between drawn, carved, and absent marks allow for the lines and patterns to weave in and out of each other, fading and forming in composition.