Michael K. Aakhus {Oils​/Printmaking/Works on Paper/Photos}

In 2016 I had a sabbatical at the Historic Studios part of the Roswell Artist in Residence Program and spent three years on site.  I currently work winters out of my Roswell studio and spend summers painting at my Pennsylvania farm house.  My early paintings were abstract exploring form and color through energized gestures on canvas and plastic grounds.  In 1986 my wife (a novelist) and I traveled to Ireland to work on a project to examine Irish myth and the settings where various events took place.  She completed a novel and I a series of painting and prints on the voyage myth of Mael Duin.  In 1991 I traveled to Southern Mexico which was the beginning of a new exploration of the art and culture of preconquest Mexico and its indigenous peoples. This work has resulted in landmark exhibition in Mexico, East Asia and the Unites States.  Following the death of my wife in 2012 I started to examine the impact of colonialism and sexual orientation in Latin America in a body of work that has continued to this day.  These works are magical real articulated in saturated color evoking inner reflection in dream like states.