Overview
AETHAN WILLS
selected by Victoria Cantons
Aethan Wills (b 1974) was born in Kyoto and lives in London, where he received a BA in Fine Art from Byam Shaw School of Art and an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art. Covering both figuration and abstraction, his painting is influenced by Japanese aesthetics and practices, through which he reimagines and recollects his past.
It would be fair to say that the recall of memories, ideas of time, and location as feelings or sensations are explored in my practice. There is an autobiographical push-pull of aesthetic sensibilities, where notions of East meets West are interwoven, explored, and played with: states of abstraction and figuration are in 'Superposition' or in 'entanglement', A mode by which I can explore and reconcile with my Anglo-Japanese heritage. - Aethan Wills
Aethan Wills's work pushes the idea of abstraction, in a similar manner to colourfield painting, reflecting the memories and emotions of a moment in time. There is an investigation between figuration and abstraction - how does one reconcile with the idea of being in-between, and celebrate being uncertain, incomplete, with freedom. - Victoria Cantons
