Eric Aho: Threshold

erica ho

erica h o

T h r e s h o l d

E ssa y by A n d rew L.S h e a

e r i c a h o A t t h e E d g e o f a L a k e

A B O U T H A L F W AY T H R O U G H h i s m o s t f a m o u s b o o k , o n e y e a r i n t o h i s e x t r a o rd i n a r y e x p e r i m e n t i n d e l i b e r a t e l i v i n g , H e n r y D a v i d T h o r e a u r e c a l l s p u s h i n g o f f i n a b o a t t o d r i f t a b o u t o n t h e w a t e r s o f Wa l d e n Po n d . H e g e t s l o n e l y , a n d d e c i d e s t o m a k e s o m e n o i s e :

W hen, as was commonl y the c ase, I had none to com mune with, I used to raise the echoes by str iking with a padd le on the side of my boat, fil ling the surrounding w o o d s w i t h c i rc l i n g a n d d i l a t i n g s o u n d , s t i r r i n g t h e m u p a s t h e k e e p e r o f a m e n a g e r i e h i s w i l d b e a s t s , u n t i l I elicited a growl from e ver y wooded vale and hillside 1

T h o r e a u f i n d s h i m s e l f i n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e e m p t y p o n d , i n e x t r e m e i s o l a t i o n , s u r r o u n d e d b y n o t h i n g b u t w a t e r , s t i l l a s g l a s s I t m u s t h a v e b e e n v e r y q u i e t B u t r a t h e r t h a n d e s c e n d i n t o s o l i p s i s t i c re v e r i e o r d e s p a i r T h o re a u d o e s s o m e t h i n g i m p e t u o u s , e v e n c h i l d i s h H e d i s t u r b s t h e s i l e n c e , t h w a c k s h i s p a d d l e a g a i n s t t h e g u n w a l e o f h i s b o a t , a n d f i n d s h i m s e l f i n a g u t t u r a l u r c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h t h e e d g e o f t h e f o re s t . A l o n e o n t h e w a t e r s , i t m u s t h a v e b e e n c o m f o r t i n g t o h e a r a r e s p o n s e , a n e c h o t h a t ’ s n o t j u s t a n e c h o , b u t a Ö ê ç ï ä .

For near l y twent y years, Eric Aho has made paintings that take the Nor theast Amer ic an wilder ness, among other loc a tions, as their nominal subject He has painted mountain vistas, d e e p r a v i n e s , s p r a w l i n g fi e l d s , s u r g i n g r i v e r s , a n d t u m b l i n g brooks. More recentl y, the shore of a forested wetland, seen f r o m a f l o a t i n g c a n o e , h a s e n g a g e d h i s s u s t a i n e d a t t e n t i o n . T h e s e r i e s o f w o rk s t h a t h a v e f o l l ow e d a re n o t t h e re s u l t o f direct, éäÉáå ~áê obser vation, but studio constr uctions, sy nthe siz ed from shor thand notes done in the c anoe in pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache, as well as memor y, imagination, and painter l y invention. That ’ s to say, they are plainl y fictions.

C o n s i d e r c á ê ë í cç êÉ ë í q Ü êÉ ë Ü ç ä Ç ( 2 0 22 ) [ p.5 ] L i k e m a n y o f t h e r e c e n t w o r k s , t h e p a i n t i n g c o m p r i s e s t h r e e f r o n t a l , h o r i z on t a l z on e s At b o t t om i s a t h i n s e c t i on o f “ f o re g ro u n d ” t h a t ’ s n o g r o u n d a t a l l , b u t t h e re f l e c t i v e s u r f a c e o f t h e s h a l l o w w a t e r. A b o v e t h a t , t a k i n g u p t h e l i o n ’ s s h a r e o f t h e c a n v a s , r i s e s a l a r g e w a l l o f c o n i f e r o u s t re e s : p i n e , h e m l o c k , t h e o c c a s i o n a l s p r u c e . Pe e k i n g o u t f r o m b e h i n d t h e t re e l i n e i n t h e u p p e r re g i s t e r s o f t h e p i c t u re a re b i t s o f s k y , b l u e a n d p a r t l y c l o u d y.

At first glance, this str ucture seems c lear enough, and it c arr ies the force of its one two three simplicit y. But things get c o m p l i c a t e d q u i c k l y. O n s u s t a i n e d i n s p e c t i o n w e b e c o m e unsure of the boundar ies bet ween liquid, land, and sky That edg e o f t h e la k e, w h ere w a t er meet s t er r a fir ma, is indis t in g u i s h a b l e, o b s c u re d b y a n i n t r i c a t e c on f u s i on o f r i p p l e s a n d reflections, roots and limbs.

J a g g e d t r u n k s a n d b r a n c h e s j u t u p a n d o u t o f t h e w a t e r , then get flipped on their head by the mirrored sur face. Realit y a n d re f l e c t i on a re o f a p i e c e , f o r m i n g c on t i g u o u s , n o t q u i t e s y m m e t r i c a l w h o l e s t h a t a s s e r t t h e m s e l v e s a l on g t h e b o t t om o f t h e p i c t u r e p l a n e . T h e s e a r e s o m e t i m e s r i n g e d , a s i f f o r e m ph a s i s , b y m y s t e r i o u s p i n k h a l o s , l i t f rom b e h i n d b y s om e u n s e e n l i g h t . We s o on b e g i n t o re a d a n i d i o s y n c r a t i c f o r m a l l e x i c o n f r o m p a i n t i n g t o p a i n t i n g : f o u r p o i n t e d s t a r s , r h o m b i , l o z e n g e s , c h e v r o n s , a r r o w h e a d s . S o m e t i m e s t h e y v e r g e o n t h e c a l l i g r a p h i c : a n M h e r e , a n A t h e r e , f o r m i n g p r e v e r b a l u t t e r a n c e s t h a t re a d l e f t t o r i g h t a c r o s s t h e s u r f a c e, l i k e s u p e r i m p o s e d s u b t i t l e s on a f o re i g n f i l m

Aho returns again and again to these shapes and sy mbols, placing them under different weathers and times of day, mov ing them about according to the needs of the picture, much as a still life painter might his tabletop cups and bottles. Allow t h e e y e t o r i s e u p t o t h a t w a l l o f t re e s , a n d t h i n g s d on’t g e t

mu c h e a s i e r. T h o u g h w e c a n i d e n t i f y l a n d m a rk s h e re a n d there a tree, a bush, a c loud of mist passages of unnaturalis tic color disr upt our understanding and force our return to the sur face of the picture plane Paradoxic all y, it is onl y at the ver y tops of these pictures, in the relieving c lar it y of their tree lined skies, that we find any sor t of grounding, an anchor to which we might or ient our looking.

Aho’s goal, we soon come to realiz e, isn’t to represent a par ticular place, to tell us “what happened,”“what was there.” H e i s n o t i n t e r e s t e d i n u n c h e c k e d l e g i b i l i t y o r i n f a l l i b l e l o g i c . T h e p a i n t i n g i n s t e a d c om mu n i c a t e s a n e x p e r i e n c e o f encounter, of confronting something that mov es. This land sc ape is animated, and speaks bac k. It hums; indeed, it growls.

I N E A R L I E R B O D I E S O F W O R K , Aho’s landscape rang out with the riotous uproar of a battleground. The “Continental S eries,” begun in 2012, tracked the route beginning in Normandy that his father followed during Wor ld War II as an American soldier af ter D Day, marking major sites of engagement The paint ings of ten had something of the panor amic heroism and immensit y of the Napoleonic era. There were propulsive com positions in which natural forces collided like a cavalr y regiment charging through a line of infantr y , great masses disintegrating upon contact into a glor ious entanglement within the sunlit

French countr yside Full of ravishing chiaroscuros, ver tiginous drops and leaps of sc ale, liv el y bends and t wists, and kinetic turns of the br ush, these tours de force seemed to metaphoriz e an exhilarating confusion of action and movement held under brilliant, totalizing atmospheres. All filtered through the lan guage of gestural expressionism, the paintings were rendered with passages of dazzling facture: here, the oil whipped up into a frothy haze; there, a delicious smear that could decorate a cake

In these recent works , howe ver, one finds a soberer, more contemplative sensibilit y S earching, feeling marks dec lare an interest in subtlet y and nuance over spectac le and br io. This suits Aho’s wetland subject Bogs such as this occur at low , flat grounds. Though teeming with biologic al diversit y and visual splendor, the y thwar t the so c al led progress of human engi n e e r i n g a n d s e t t l e m e n t . Ah o ’ s re c u r r i n g w a l l o f c on i f e r s , though porous to a degree, forms a kind of inter ior architec tural space, obscur ing greater depths and pre venting fanciful flights of imaginative travel.

You c an’t step in the same r iver twice, or so it goes but can you step in the same pond twice? Here time doesn’t quite stop, but things shif t about at a stubbornly slow pace W illem de Kooning said that “content is a glimpse,” and in the late 1950s he made paintings that recall the experience of looking out the window as he drov e down the Merr itt Parkway or Montauk Highway, watching the landscape whizz by 2 Aho’s searching, ribbon like marks may find their roots in de Kooning’s liquid

bravura, but their speed is that of a padd led canoe, not a careen ing station wagon. If de Kooning labored to recol lect the walloping impact of a single freez e frame apprehension, Aho allows the eye to wander, and his collection of smaller glimpses propose a teetering whole, accumulating and collapsing along with the precarious landscapes they depict

Across the sur face, these gestures gather into biomor phic shapes, bending to foreshor tened depths and sitting flat on the s u r f a c e . C om p l e x a n d u n n a m a b l e, t h e s h a p e s j o s t l e a ro u n d , fold ov er, f eel out their surroundings, and cov er up what sits beh ind. Th e y ex p res s a s ens e o f na t ure t h a t is div er s e , t r a n s i e n t , a nd cont ing ent . Th e y rec a l l is la nd la ndma s s es s een in aer ial photogr aphy distinct from y et coexte nsiv e with their w a t e r y s u r ro u n d i n g s . G e om e t r y o r a ny o t h e r k i n d o f i d e a l o r intel lectual sy stem, for that matter play s no par t

W hat instead holds these elusiv e apperceptions together, a l l ow i n g t h e m t o re l a t e a n d c o e x i s t , a re m a t e r i a l l i m i t a t i on s t h a t a m o u n t t o a k i n d o f s e n s i b i l i t y : a p a r t i c u l a r v i s c o s i t y o f p a i n t a n d m e d i u m, a p a r t i c u l a r w ay t h a t Ah o h o l d s h i s b r u s h o r m o v e s h i s s h o u l d e r. Wo r k i n g n e a r l y ~ ä ä ~ é ê á ã ~ , A h o i s c on t e n t t o w o rk on a n d w i t h h i s s u r f a c e . Tr a c e s o f s c r a p e d a w a y m a r k s , b r i n g i n g u s b a c k t o t h e w e a v e o f t h e c a n v a s , e m b e d t h e m s e l v e s w i t h i n p o c k e t s o f f o l i a g e , s i t t i n g b e n e a t h g e s t u re s t h a t a re f l u i d y e t p u r p o s e f u l . H e d o e s n’t d i s s e m b l e t h e p ro c e s s o f m a k i n g t h ro u g h a n i n d e c i ph e r a b l e m o r a s s o f m a r k s ; y o u c a n w a l k t h r o u g h h o w t h e p i c t u r e w a s m a d e ,

s t r o k e b y s t r o k e . T h o u g h i n d e l i b l y c o r p o re a l , t h e p a i n t i n g s d o n’t g e t s t u c k i n t h e m u d . C o m e t o t h i n k o f i t , m u d i t s d e p i c t i on , i t s c o l o r , i t s phy s i c a l e v o c a t i on i s a l m o s t u n s e t t l i n g l y a b s e n t f r o m t h e s e l i g h t f i l l e d s w a m p s T h e p a i n t i n s t e a d c onv e y s i m m e d i a c y a n d e a s e .

T h e p r o c e s s c a l l s t o m i n d a m a t t e r o f f a c t d e s c r i p t i o n b y Wa l l a c e S t e v e n s ( a p o e t A h o r e v e r e s ) o f a t y p i c a l d a y s p e n t w r i t i n g :

I have no set way of working. A great deal of my poetr y has been written while I have been out walking. . . . I pull and tug at the t y ped scr ipt until I hav e the thing the way I want it, when I put it away for a week or two until

I have forgotten about it and c an take it up as if it was something entirel y fresh If it satisfies me at that time, that is the end of it. 3

S tr aightfor ward, per haps, but as in S te v ens ’ s poetr y, the sim p l i c i t y c a n b e d i s a r m i n g , h o l d i n g w i t h i n i t b o t h i n t r a c t a b l e c o m p l i c a t i o n a n d m e t a p h y s i c a l o p p o r t u n i t y. Ta k e p É Å ç å Ç cç ê É ë í q Ü êÉ ë Ü ç ä Ç ( 2 0 22 ) [ p. 1 3 ] , a n o t h e r o f t h i s w e t l a n d s e r i e s . T h e scene is awash with a power ful and diffuse light a late spr ing mor ning, per haps. To the r ight, a mist hov ers ov er the s i l v e r y w a t e r , g a t h e r i n g i n t o a c l o u d S u r r o u n d e d b y p a l e , g r a y g re e n f o l i a g e a n d c a p r i c i o u s b i t s o f c o o l y e l l ow , t h e whites and gr ay s of the mist look pinkish pur ple, these colors bouncing off and around the water ’ s sur face , loosed of their phy sic al solidities and gr avitational weights

Elsewhere, a handful of dead white pines rise in stark relief a g a i n s t t h e g re e n e r y. D row n e d b y t h e g a t h e re d w a t e r a n d bleached by the sun , they have lost their need les, and the bar re n t r u n k s s t a n d n e a r l y s t r a i g h t , w i t h l i s t l e s s b r a n c h e s extending to the sides in irregular inter vals, a bit as if Mon d r i a n h a d c om e b a c k t o l i f e , re n e g e d on h i s r i g h t a n g l e puritanism, and was born again in the natural rhythms of trees These pines are some of the most str iking natural phenomena in the body of work. Their limbs still droop from the weight of need les once carried , looking conspicuously like the skeleton of an enormous fish.

Or is this a human presence? One thinks of S hakespeare ’ s qÉ ã é É ë í , on that enc hanted isle ,“ful l of noises , sounds , and sweet airs,” how the witch S ycorax impr isons Ar iel in “ a c loven pine” for twel ve long years.4 Or of Proust, who, in his famous meditation on the forces of memor y, relates the Celtic belief that the souls of lost lov ed ones become bound up in inani m a t e o b j e c t s o f n a t u re, t h a t w e s om e t i m e s “ h a p p e n t o p a s s c lose to the tree, come into possession of the object that is their pr ison. Then they quiver, they c all out to us, and as soon as we have recogniz ed them, the spell is broken. Delivered by us, they have overcome death and they return to live with us. ” 5

I t ’ s a commonp la ce t h a t la nds c a p e p a int ing s, a t lea s t in the Western tradition, are usuall y or iented hor iz ontall y this, presumabl y, to c apture the wideness of per ipheral vision And, indeed, there is an insistent hor iz ontalit y in those flat waters and reflections lay ing at the bottoms of these pictures But the re c e n t c om p o s i t i on s a l s o re t a i n n o t a b l e c u r re n t s o f v e r t i c a l

v e m e n t I f Ve n e t i a n p a i n t e r s l i k e G i o r g i o n e a n d T i t i a n

i s cov ered that the rol ling hil ls of the pastor al countr y side mimicked the languorous contours of the rec lining nude muse, Aho’s wilderness stands up on its feet. Cer tain works, such as q~ã~ê~Åâ (2 0 2 1) [p. 29], surge upwards like an El Greco, along heaving tr unks and branches to the c lear blue sky, bespeaking an almost literal transcendence. Other works are decidedly more s et t led, b u t t h ro u g h o u t t h e s e r i e s w e f i n d S c u r v e c o n t r a p postos of r i s i n g f o g , s t r i d i n g c a s c a d e s o f s n ow l a d e n b o u g h s , t h o s e v er t ebr a l dea d p ine t rees a n undenia ble fig ur a l p res ence is embedded in these paintings, addressing us face to face.

A h o , l i k e s o m a n y b e f o r e a n d b e s i d e h i m , r e c o g n i z e s t h e v a l u e i n t h o s e m o m e n t s o f h e i g h t e n e d i n t e rc o n n e c t e d n e s s t h a t s o m e t i m e s o c c u r i n t h e q u i e t o f t h e w o o d s . T h i s i s n o m e r e r e l i c o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , n o Tr a n s c e n d e n t a l i s t p l ay a c t i n g. A s n a t u r a l p re s e r v e s c on t i n u e t o d i s a p p e a r a n d e c o l o g i c a l s y s t e m s c on t i n u e t o c o l l a p s e u n d e r t h e b a n n e r o f t e c h n o l o g i c a l a n d c i v i l i z a t i o n a l “ p r o g r e s s , ” m o r e r e c e n t p h i l o s o p h e r s h a v e s u g g e s t e d t h a t w e h a v e n o c h o i c e b u t t o r e c o n f i g u r e o u r r e l a t i o n s h i p t o t h e na t u r a l o t h e r. A s J a n e B e n n e t t a r g u e s i n h e r 2 0 1 0 b o o k s á Ä ê~ å í j ~ í íÉ ê , w h i c h m a k e s t h e c a s e f o r e n g a g i n g t h e “ v i t a l m a t e r i a l i t y ” o f b o t h h u m a n a n d n o n h u m a n e n t i t i e s : “ w e n e e d t o c u l t i v a t e a b i t o f a n t h r o p o m o r p h i s m t h e i d e a t h a t h u m a n a g e n c y h a s s o m e e c h o e s i n n on h u m a n n a t u re t o c o u n t e r t h e n a rc i s s i s m o f h u m a n s i n c h a r g e o f t h e w o r l d . ” 6

Alongside the lake paintings are a ser ies of t wilight and noctur ne scenes spec kled by a swar m of glowing fireflies, bugs rendered in electr ic dits and dots that dr aw our e y e about the c anvas In the night ’ s humidit y, each has its own distinct fuzz y halo, and by their relativ e siz e we c an sense whic h are c loser a n d w h i c h n e a re r A s i n t h e w e t l a n d p a i n t i n g s , i m p o s i n g sheets of conif ers, now rendered in str iating br ushstrokes of s i n e w y b l a c k p a i n t , t a k e u p t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e p i c t u re s At b o t t o m a r e s l i m b a n d s o f d a r k , r a d i o a c t i v e g r e e n : p e r h a p s f i e l d , per haps water.

In our conversation, Aho notes that fireflies are ecological canaries in the coal mine, as it were. They are among the species of insect most vulnerable to human disturbance. Herbicides and insecticides , even light pollution, are r uinous to their popula tion I think bac k to long summer nights, r unning about the backyard, tr ying to trace the flight of the bug, finally capturing its intermittent glow, feeling it tickle my loosely cupped hands as it crawls about. Touch it but don’t squish it, and always prac tice catch and release W hen Aho mentioned that the species are in danger of dying out, I tried to but couldn’t remember the last time I saw one.

But despite these ecologic al and nostalgic resonances, the firefly is nothing if not an aesthetic creature (their light is, af ter all, a means of attracting a mate), so perhaps we ’ re better off

a p p ro a c h i n g t h e p a i n t i n g s a c c o rd i n g l y. I t ’ s d i f fi c u l t t o s e e

n i g h t t i m e s e t t i n g s s u c h a s t h es e a n d n o t t h i n k o f W h i s t l e r , that impecc able aesthete, especiall y his kçÅíìê åÉ áå _ä~Åâ ~åÇ d ç ä Ç ( 1 8 7 5 ) , w i t h i t s e x p l o d i n g go l d e n fi re w o rk s t h a t b u r s t a g a i n s t t h e d a rk n i g h t s k y. ( T h e re ’ s a d o s e o f C a s p a r D a v i d Fr i e d r i c h , t o o , i n t h o s e s p o ok y m o on l i t m i s t s ) H e re , Ah o ’ s f l e c k s o f c o l o r d o n’t c l u s t e r , b u t h a v e t h e i n f o r m a l u n i t y o f constellations , allowing us to connect them as we may, draw ing lines of sight and thought.

T O D A Y, A P R E V A I L I N G AT T I T U D E i s t h a t a r t ’ s c h i e f f u n c t i on i s t o e x p r e s s a n i d e a t o a d v a n c e u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d t o g e t t h i n g s d on e . T h e c on t e m p o r a r y a r t i s t , t h i s v i e w s e e m s t o s ay , i s a j o u r n a l i s t , a h i s t o r i a n , a s o c i o l o g i s t , a n a c t i v i s t . A h o i s n on e o f t h e s e t h i n g s o r , a t l e a s t , n o t p r i n c i p a l l y H i s p a i n t i n g s h a v e n o p re m e d i t a t e d p ro g r a m , b u t a re re a l i z e d i n t i m e , t h ro u g h t h e a c t o f m a k i n g T h i s i s n o t t o s a y t h a t i d e a s d o n o t e x i s t i n t h e p a i n t i n g s t h a t r e s u l t , n o r t h a t t h e y ( o r t h e landsc apes the y e voke) refute their urgent histor ic al, politic al, s o c i a l , a n d e c o l o g i c a l c o n t e x t s . B u t p a i n t i n g i s , a t h e a r t , a v i s u a l m e d i u m . I t i s , a m on g o t h e r t h i n g s , a b o u t v i s i on , a b o u t t h e w ay s t h a t l o ok i n g o f f e r s u s t h e c h a n c e t o c u t t h ro u g h t h e g l a u c o m i c f o g o f “ c o n c e p t , ” a n d t o c o n n e c t w i t h w h a t i s o u t s i d e o f o u r s e l v e s .

On the basis of these recent works , Aho would seem to a g re e w i t h Fa i r fi e l d Po r t e r w h e n , i n on e o f h i s l a s t w r i t t e n statements, he w rote that “Painters are concerned with things. The most prominent things in the painter ’ s experience are right in front of him, like the paint on the c anvas. It is better if he d o e s n o t a c h i e v e a p l a n , a n d t h a t t h e p a i n t i n g e l u d e s h i m, w i t h a life of its own . . . . S o far as it has mer it, a painting is a f a c t , a r b i t r a r y a n d i n d i v i d u a l ” 7

In a culture that prevents us, through its ubiquitous, dispir iting, anaesthetizing technolog y, from looking at the material facts of the wor ld before our eyes, and then proceeds to develop that ver y wor ld out of existence, painting offers an “ escape ” that is not actually an escape, but a necessar y re engagement. Today, such things as metaphor ic al remove, nuance, ambiguit y, and complexity tend to be looked upon with suspicion, if not hostil ity. Certainly, questions of “transcendence” and “beauty” receive little consideration in the mainstream discourse Contemporar y life insists upon stopping at the surface on the levels of style, superficialit y, and essentialist thought

A h o re m a i n s c o n v i n c e d i n t h e m e t a p hy s i c a l p o s s i b i l i t y

o f painting, of a mater ial sur face that allows us to reach down to greater depths. He is a painter that finds meaning in con

s t r u c t i n g a n i m a g i n a t i v e s p a c e on a fl a t o b j e c t , on e t h a t somehow accords with an ineffable f eeling about the nature

o f n a t u re A s i n g l e p l a n e t h a t p i t s b a l a n c e a n d w h o l e n e s s against fragmentation and collapse, that compresses a contin u u m o f h i s t o r i e s , m e m o r i e s , i m a g e s , a t t i t u d e s , f e e l i n g s , languages, sights, and sounds. Recentl y, that space has found ostensible e x p re s s i on i n t h e e d g e o f a l a k e , w h e re w a t e r m e e t s d i r t a n d a i r m e e t s s o l i d f o r m . T h e a c t o f p a i n t i n g i s A h o ’ s whac king the side of his boat: his raising a din and listening for the response a sor t of visual echo loc ation, a seeking out of that threshold meeting place , and of himself in the process. L uc ky for us , that in confronting the result, the painting on the wall, we ’ re given the chance to tr y the same.

A N D R E W L.S H E A

note

1 Henry David Thoreau, Walden (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2004), 157.

2 Accessed via The Willem de Kooning Foun dation website “Willem de Kooning,” in David Sylvester Interviews with American Artists New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001: 43 57. Recorded March 1960 in New York City Aired on the BBC (1960) under the title “Painting as Self Discovery ” Edited ver

sion assembled from excerpts first published as “Content is a Glimpse,” Location 1, no 1 (Spring 1963): 45 52

3 Wallace Stevens, “Autobiographical Statement for the ‘New York Herald Tribune Book Review,’” in Wallace Stevens: Collected Poetr y and Prose (New York: Librar y of America, 1997), 871

4 William Shakespeare, The Tempest, ed Barbara A Mowat and Paul Werstine (New York: Washington Square Press, 2004), 3 2 148 49, 1 2 330 References are to act, scene, and line

5 Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way: In Search of Lost Time, Vol. 1, trans. Lydia Davis (Penguin Classics: New York, 2004), 44

6 Jane Bennett, Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things (Duke University Press: Durham, NC, 2010), xvi

7. Fairfield Porter, “ Two Statements,” in Art on its Own Terms: Selected Criticism, 1935 1975, ed Rackstraw Downes (Boston: MFA Publications, 2008), 281.

E R I C A H O I S A N A M E R I C A N A R T I S T w h o s e w o r k i s c o n cer ned with the phy sic al immensit y of the natur al wor ld and a n e v e r e v o l v i n g p r a c t i c e o f e x t r a c t i n g t h e i n t i m a t e e x p e r i ences nature al lows De v eloped pr imar il y from memor y of his own encounters of the landsc ape, Aho’s painting is a response, b o t h s p o n t a n e o u s a n d c o n t e m p l a t i v e, t o t h e e v e r c h a n g i n g outside wor ld.

A h o s t u d i e d a t t h e C e n t r a l S a i n t M a r t i n s S c h o o l o f A r t and Design in L ondon, England and receiv ed a B FA from the Massac husetts Col lege of Ar t in Boston. In 1989, he par tici p a t e d i n t h e f i r s t e x c h a n g e o f s c h o l a r s i n ov e r t h i r t y y e a r s bet ween the U. S. and Cuba. He completed his gr aduate work at the L ahti Ar t Institute in F inland suppor ted by a Fulbr ight Fel lowship in 1991 92 and an Amer ic an Sc andinavian Foun dation gr ant in 1993 It was in the stark nor ther n terr ain of the Nor wegian Arctic, Wester n R ussia, and his ancestr al F inland w h e r e A h o f i r s t r e s p o n d e d t o t h e i m p u l s e s o f l a n d s c a p e i n d u c e d m e m o r y t h a t c o n t i n u e s t o i n f o r m h i s w o r k . H i s w o r k s a re h e l d i n t h e p e r m a n e n t c o l l e c t i o n s o f t h e C u r r i e r M u s e u m o f A r t , M a n c h e s t e r, N H ; D e n v e r A r t M u s e u m , C O ; F i n e A r t s M u s e u m s o f S a n Fr a n c i s c o , CA ; F l e m i n g M u s e u m , U n i v e r s i t y o f Ve r m o n t , B u r l i n g t o n , V T;

H o o d M u s e u m o f A r t , H a n o v e r, N H ; T h e M e t r o p o l i t a n

M u s e u m o f A r t , N Y ; M u s e u m o f F i n e A r t s , B o s t o n , M A ;

T h e N e u b e r g e r M u s e u m o f A r t , S U N Y, N Y ; N e w B r i t a i n

M u s e u m o f A m e r i c a n A r t , C T; a n d t h e O u l u M u s e u m o f A r t , F i n l a n d , a m o n g o t h e r s .

S o l o e x h i b i t i o n s i n c l u d e : b ê á Å ^ Ü ç W e É ~ Ç ï ~ í É ê a t t h e B u r l i n g t o n C i t y A r t s C e n t e r, V T ( 2 0 2 2 ) ; b ê á Å ^ Ü ç W ^ å r å Ñ á å á ë Ü É Ç mç á å í á å ~ s~ ë í p ì ê ê ç ì å Ç á å Ö a t t h e N e w B r i t a i n M u s e u m o f A m e r i c a n A r t , C T ( 2 0 1 6 ) ; b ê á Å ^ Ü ç W f Å É ` ì í ë a t t h e H o o d M u s e u m o f A r t , H a n o v e r, N H ( 2 0 1 6 ) ; b ê á Å ^ Ü ç W f å í Ü É i ~ å Ç ë Å ~é É a t t h e Fe d e r a l R e s e r v e B o a rd , Wa s h i n g t on , D C (2 0 1 3); a n d qê~ å ë Å É å Ç á å Ö k~ í ì êÉ W m~ á å í á å Öë Ä ó b ê á Å ^ Ü ç at the Curr ier Museum of Ar t, Manchester, NH (2012). O ther e x h i b i t i o n s h a v e t a k e n p l a c e a t t h e A l d r i c h M u s e u m o f C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t , R i d g e f i e l d, C T; Po r t l a n d A r t M u s e u m , M A ; O g u n q u i t M u s e u m o f A m e r i c a n A r t , M A ; N a t i o n a l Ac a d e m y, N Y; a n d Am e r i c a n Ac a d e m y o f A r t s a n d L e t t e r s , N Y. A h o ’ s p a i n t i n g s h a v e b e e n s h o w n i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y i n Ire l a n d , S o u t h A f r i c a , C u b a , No r w a y, F i n l a n d , a n d J a p a n . Aho was elected National Ac ademician of the National Ac a d e m y M u s e u m i n 2 0 0 9 H e l i v e s a n d w o rk s i n S a x t on s River, Vermont.

T h i s c a t a l o g u e w a s p u b l i s h e d o n t h e o c c a s i o n o f t h e e x h i b i t i o n

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© D C M o o r e G a l l e r y, 20 2 2 b ê á Å ^ Ü ç I ^ í í Ü É b Ç ÖÉ ç Ñ ~ i ~ â É © A n d r e w L S h e a , 20 2 2

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ê å ~ ä m ç ç ä E l ñ Ñ ç êÇ

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