Aaron Feltman
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Sunburnt Sweater, 2020
oil on linen, 60 x 48 inches
Tell us about the work that you have submitted.
Sunburnt Sweater serves as a recollection of my time in the surreal space of Norfolk, Connecticut, where I attended the Yale Norfolk Residency last summer. This painting taps into larger themes of repression and shame as the sunburn across the main figure's chest is inverted, representing a psychological sunburn rather than a physical one. The searing of the skin recalls the pulsing heat one may feel when they experience a moment of shame. The painting also draws influence from Piero Della Francesca's Baptism of Christ with its central composition, low horizon, and the contrapposto pose of the main figure with an out-turned foot. The allusion to a baptism reinforces a plea for redemption and the cleansing of the central figure's shame.
How would you describe your studio practice?
I am a painter who mainly works in oils with a primary focus on the male figure. In my work, I try to understand my relationships with those around me, as well as the internal relationship I have with myself. More and more now, I am trying to expand my range of paint applications to find new ways to formally reflect the emotional state I am considering within a given painting. I also have a strong bond with art history in my work and continually look to artists of the past to find some kind of understanding of how they were able to evoke certain qualities, whether it be lust, repression, empathy, or vulnerability. I then use these historical references as a point of departure to reinvent them to address the situations of my reality in its current moment.
What about figurative work do you find particularly interesting?
The figure interests me as it can simultaneously act as a unifying force in allowing for empathy with a subject from a sense of shared experience while also revealing the complexity of individuality and the peculiarity of personal encounters and perceptions.
Website: www.aaronfeltman.com
Instagram: @aaronjfeltman