Aaron Garretson grew up in Southern California attending public schools and surfing the breaks between Swami’s and Sunset Cliffs. He studied biochemistry and cell biology at UC San Diego, earned an MFA at Columbia University, and, to support his artistic endeavors, has worked in research laboratories in California, New Mexico and New York, studying HIV, Zika, Dengue, SARS CoV-2, and a host of other viruses (the list keeps growing).

While he primarily writes fiction and paints with oil pastels, he has more recently been experimenting with scissors and thread, cutting up his canvases before painting the pieces and sewing them back together. There’s a rebelliousness to it, an element of angst in these uncertain times, as well as a nod to Lucio Fontana. More than that, it’s about creating new lines and opening up space while reconsidering the possibilities within a stretched canvas.

aaronfgarretson (at) gmail (dot) com