Poetic reflections on making by Aaron Decker
Toys
i
treading blindly across the carpeted floor
looked for the toys
my sister should have
.
i
found them colorful
them free
them i
.
he loved their hair
the dresses and stripes
the pink, blue, and purple
them
.
i
was told to stop
to play with my own
the metal boxes, wheels, and roads
.
he told me it wasn’t right
i wasn’t right
wasn’t right to play with
them
.
i
wonder now if that’s why
they come back in you
small metal, colorful, right,
you
Stripes
Thinking about stripes
On walls and chests
In pockets
Where I place my hands
.
Colors indicating
What, who, when
And how proud
I should be for what I do.
.
Closet
Retreating to count each bead
On the necklace
I made for my mother
Pasta noodles and paper rolls
.
.
Covered in paint and glue
Strung on the grey yarn
Hollow shells clanking
As the door to the jewelry box opens
Reflection:
I use writing tools to make. That is, I use writing as a way to put my thoughts down and let them exist in front of my eyes rather than behind them. It is pretty much the same as making the ‘work’ and equally as non linear. Before I was a jeweler I studied writing. According to my professors I wasn’t good at it. I thought I was good at it, maybe I just loved it. Now I think yea, I’m not a great writer, who cares. I don’t write to make writing. I write to explore, to dig into memories, to imagine snapshots that leave scars on my emotional being; I write to navigate temporal landmarks, map them, let them be fuel, fodder, contradictory, or mute in my making process. I don’t write to make writing, I write so that I can make – it’s just a tool for nothing…Which is the most incidental tool in my practice.
BIO:
Aaron Decker is an Artist based in the midwest, but having grown up all over the United States, he calls Alaska and Maine both home. Decker works in product development for SHINOLA Detroit while maintaining a thriving studio practice including new collections of jewelry, custom pieces, and regular exhibitions.
Website: aaron-decker.com
Instagram: @aaronpdecker
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