Banana Plant Scene III Painting

BIOGRAPHY b. 1992 Stoke On Trent, UK Aidan Myers is an artist based in Cardiff, Wales working between painting and drawing. Myers was a recipient of the Artist Support Pledge ‘Surfaces Award’ in 2021, which led to exhibiting at ASP’s inaugural group show at Hastings Contemporary. Notably in 2018 Myers travelled to India for a 3-month artist residency at the Aamir Art House in Goa, which formed the direction to his recent work. In 2017 Myers won first prize at the Oriel CRiC Open in Wales. Myers studied Fine Art at Cardiff School of Art and Design graduating in 2014; subsequently he worked at the Art School’s ‘Inc Space’ for a 2-year studio placement. Myers exhibits in regular group shows in the UK and been presented in solo shows in Cardiff (2023, 2021, 2018 & 2016) and Stroud, UK (2016). He has work held in public hospital collections across South Wales. There are public and private collections of work in: UK, Germany, USA, India & Hong Kong. STATEMENT My recent work has played with my powerful affinity with landscapes experienced during India’s monsoon season. I have attempted to re-invent the energy of these landscapes within my paintings. The banana plant motif has taken on the resonance of a figure as a central subject to many compositions; their forms are somewhat abstracted; spiralling from a central column. They are little doses of realism that speak the language of the landscape and carry the narrative of my experiences; they are symbolic to me of the Indian culture and approaches to life. My work also explores ideas of plant motifs as if they are ‘props’ within an environment. In the western world we are obsessed with curating and controlling our landscapes. We plan our ordered gardens; our parks are carefully manicured spaces, trimmed and tidy; we nurture plants for their aesthetic qualities rather than what naturally fits or what is native to our climate. I found the idea of ‘props’ particularly prevalent in botanical gardens, where exotic plants are collected, nurtured and preserved in these theatrical, unnatural spaces.