Derek Aylward is always searching as an artist, and his painterly approach is a bit of an anomaly. What appears to be an expressive and raw style of conjuring images is actually achieved through rounds and rounds of painting completely new scenes and narratives over each canvas until one sticks. Thick layers of paint build up as Aylward chases his muses, leaving behind ridged-scars that hint at the ghosts of many obliterated, and now completely abstract, paintings lying below the surface. The question of what makes an image final and complete for an artist varies infinitely. For some, it’s a methodical process where the destination is fully conceived and envisioned before a work is even started, and for others it manifests as a fluid, intuitive attack that happens so quickly it feels like cheating. Aylward is smack dab in the middle of this tug-of-war with intention and intuition both vying for the final say.

The topographies and painted histories in Aylward’s works are completely unknown to the viewer, as only he was privy to the path and struggles that finally yielded a stopping point. This process is subconsciously satirical in that the quick bursts of painterly energy we encounter in Aylward’s completed works are actually the result of a tedious and obsessive process that is always under fire from new inspiration and also self-doubt. But finally, something clicks, allowing the artist to release himself from the cycle by releasing the work from further manipulation.

As an artist, Derek Aylward clearly pushes himself to accomplish paintings that ring true to him. This might take the form of a languid alligator resting under a cool palm tree, or coalesce as an assembled (and intertwined) mass of figures calling to the sky looking for answers. Sometimes, we are simply confronted by lonely heads looking inquisitively in our direction while perched on the horizon, with multiple angles and sides of their faces unfurling at the same time. This Pop-Cubist bent gives us a hint at the subjects' internal complexities and temperament, and also Aylward’s own as they are undoubtedly all self-portraits to some extent.

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Derek Aylward (b. 1976, Boston, MA) lives and works in Quincy, MA. Aylward attended The Art Institute of Boston from 1997-1999, and has exhibited at V1 Gallery (Copenhagen), Sorry We’re Closed (Brussels), OTI (Hong Kong) and Blum & Poe (Los Angeles).