Aj Burns

I was born in Cape Town, South Africa to Scottish parents and have always had strong ties to my ancestry and a love of Africa.

As a child, I drew and painted prodigiously. I was no angel however and would caddishly remove the paper labels (that included the name of the colour) from my colour-blind younger brother’s wax crayons. I was, of course, just helping him with “his tonal values… and a little abstraction”! :)

In high school, I was more than “encouraged to drop art for proper subjects”, like math and physics. As a result, I studied Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town where I was required to use a sharp pencil, set square and ruler – rather than the freedom of liquid paint on a canvas.

It took a chance meeting with an old friend 25 years later, a garage with no electricity and a couple of old canvases to experiment on, for my creative spark to be re-ignited. The constraints and solution-seeking requirements of being an engineer had at long last been cast aside and the artist was once again allowed to blossom. The result is something unique.

I blow acrylic paint on large canvases - with my mouth! I blow one colour paint through another to create vibrant movement and the distortion of form. The effect is a burst of energy, colour and texture.

The subjects and compositions are inspired by the pristine environments that I have had the privilege of travelling to, and my efforts to conserve them.

"Abstractly Yours" at the Ink Box, Cape Town, South Africa
"We the Artists" at Art is Art, Cape Town, South Africa