Aaron Decker (USA) - Plus One Collective
AARON DECKER
Biography:
Aaron Decker is a US based Jeweler and enamellist. Having received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art under Iris Eichenberg, Decker now calls the Midwest US home. A queer artist who grew up in the military, Decker’s work thematically trails innocents of childhood, and the violence of war. Decker shows internationally and is represented by Ornamentum Gallery, Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h, OONA Galerie, and Galerie Reverso. Decker’s work can be found in many collections including The Pinakothek Der Moderne, Munich, Germany, Yale Art Gallery, and several private collections all over the world.
Artist statement:
My work applies unconventional enameling techniques to pieces that critique US involvement in geopolitical conflicts through reference of military objects and insignia. Many of these pieces also reference my developmental experiences as a child raised in military bases and how the camouflage incumbent on queer youth in these contexts parallels other forms of camouflage assumed by structures of power and privilege. Jewelry is unique among artistic mediums in that it lives with people. As worn objects, jewelry pieces are assemblages--unions of materials, symbols, and memories. My work explores jewelry as an interplay of component parts through specific formats: Demi-Parures, lockets, and toys combined with bomb like figurines. Like people, they are each combination of smaller selves that reconfigure over time, changing with the wearer. Sometimes a necklace, sometimes a keychain or brooch, these pieces struggle with themselves, like we all do.
it's (not) all fun and games - Strap in - necklace, 2021, "demi-parure (necklace, keychain), enamel, silver, copper, nickel 5.5 x 3 x 1"",
it's (not) all fun and games - now you see me - "demi-parure (necklace, brooch, keychain), enamel, silver, copper, nickel, platinum
it's (not) all fun and games - mace face - "demi-parure (necklace, keychain), enamel, silver, copper, nickel 4 x 5 x 2.5 inches,