 Aaron Raymer Between Boredom and Oblivion Aug 29-Oct 26, 2024 Reception Sept. 14, 2-4 pm Artist talk 3 pm Aaron Raymer [b. 1978, Louisville KY] earned a BFA in 2006 at University of Louisville, and a MFA in 2008 at New York University with full scholarship support at both institutions. He has shown in New York (Kate Werble Gallery), across the US Midwest and South, and in Santiago Chile in an exhibition curated by Sebastian Errazuriz. He has been interviewed and reviewed by the New York Times along with other publications. Raymer is a father, and has taught in the University of Louisville Hite Institute of Art + Design since 2017. He is represented by Garner Large and Garner Narrative in Louisville KY. The throughline with this body of work is ADHD. There are many upsides to having a brain function like mine: creativity, curiosity, wit, quick thinking in emergencies, nonlinear thinking. There are downsides as well. My curiosity leads to almost too many ideas and that can be overwhelming for an over-thinker. Problems with executive function make it hard to prioritize, leading to motivational paralysis. I don’t know where to start, so I feel stuck in a stage of analysis. Then comes the anxiety and depression, which again kills my motivation further. I feel I’m letting myself down for not getting all the stuff done I think I should be doing. So, it’s cyclical. Meanwhile I feel the need to be doing something all the time to quell the dreaded boredom and dopamine crashes associated with it. Boredom and dopamine drops lead to feelings of irritability, frustration, futility, and depression. Often people with ADHD turn to drugs and alcohol for self-medication, and I did. My formative years were in the 80’s and 90’s, and those decades were basically my advertisement for self-indulgence and party culture. ADHD also explains my multidisciplinary approach, the variety of techniques and materials. I’d get bored with one material and style, and I might as well be sitting in a factory just doing the same thing over and over which sounds like hell. Experimentation and variations stimulate that dopamine, and fulfill that curiosity. Unsurprisingly Between Boredom and Oblivion was not conceived with any plan other than going into the studio and doing what I need to do. I was surprised the works came together with such a tight focus. This is a body of work about making work. garner LARGE 1013 Bardstown Rd., alley entrance Louisville, KY 40202 garnerlarge@gmail.com (502) 303-7259 Thurs-Sat 1-5 and by appointment  Comments are closed.
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