Tag Archives: Eric Aho

Color + Light = Place

There’s nothing quite like travel for a reminder of how much light and color affect a sense of place. In fact, I don’t think it’s too bold to say that, for those of us interested in such things, the elements of light and color define place.

Kailua Beach

Kailua Beach

Matisse knew that fact, as did Winslow Homer and Gaugin. On the more contemporary side, look to Dorothy Caldwell, Eric Aho or the interior designer Justina Blakeney* for color that portrays the essence of specific locales.

Berkeley

Berkeley

Our visits with family in Berkeley and Hawaii were nothing less than a full-on immersion in chromatic glory – especially for this northern New Englander. It was the kind of visual shake-up that makes me sit up straight and pay close attention.

Hawaii

Hawaii

That isn’t to say things haven’t been waking up here in Vermont over the past weeks. We arrived home to find our garden bursting with the colors of Zone 4: phlox, azaleas, lilacs, iris, rhododendrons and lupins…and let’s not forget the lush Green Mountains.

Vermont

Vermont

I’m not well-versed in the science of light wavelengths and how they are affected by their relationship to the sun or the surrounding environment, but at least I can say that their variations make my travels – and coming home – all the richer.

*Thanks for the introduction, Sandy!

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For a similar experience – especially while travel is still iffy with COVID – consider tuning in to the Strong Sense of Place podcast. Each episode explores one destination by discussing in detail, without spoilers, five books that will take you there on the page. Hosts Melissa & David ferret out books that really convey the feeling of a particular place — color and light limited only by your imagination.

Sun Hat

Straw Hat   ©2022 Elizabeth Fram, Watercolor and graphite on paper, 7.25 x 6 inches

Ice Cuts

Last week I went to see Eric Aho’s current exhibition “Ice Cuts” at the Hood Museum in Hanover, NH. It was strikingly beautiful. Entering the main gallery, I couldn’t help but feel very “human” in scale compared to the relative monumentality of the seven pieces displayed on three perimeter walls.

IceCuts1

“Ice Cuts” © Eric Aho, at the Hood Museum, Dartmouth College

I sat on the bench in the center of the room, swiveling to absorb each painting in turn. The work proffered an overall sense of tranquility, a calming rhythm through repetition. Yet, far from becoming tedious, each piece is worlds apart from the others, focusing on the disparity to be found in varying textures of snow and the luminous colors emitted from the cut edges of the ice. Aho brings out the subtle differences that we who live with snowy landscapes know well, such that you can almost smell the cold in the air.

IceCut2

Ice Cut (1933) © 2012 Eric Aho, Oil on linen

Whether viewed from a distance of 3 feet or 30, the nuances of detail come through loud and clear. And not unlike identical twins, whose individuality becomes apparent once you get to know them, each painting expresses a distinct personality. Varying details lend both a sense of solidity and ethereality, embodied in elements such as bold composition expressed through stark geometry, scars of over-cuts left behind after the block of ice has been removed, layers of depth conveyed within each void via subtle changes in the black paint that describes it, and beautifully diverse edges surrounding every hole.

IceCut3

Ice Cut (1932) ©2010 Eric Aho, Oil on linen

The exhibit also includes smaller pieces, watercolor studies and open sketchbooks that provide a window into Aho’s process, adding measurably to the scope of the show.

IceCut4

Ice Cut I, IV (top), Ice Cut II, III (bottom) ©Eric Aho

An intriguing parallel that has come to me as I’ve thought about these pieces over the past week is that they evoke the monoliths from “2001: A Space Odyssey”. I’m not exactly sure where to go with that idea, but it speaks well to the power of Aho’s work that it also lends a sense of mystery.

IceCut5

Ice Cut Study (Green) © 2014 Eric Aho, Oil on panel

If you live close enough, Eric Aho’s “Ice Cuts” will be up through March 13th.