Inspired by Prue Gibson’s book Rapture of Death, Aaron Butt’s solo exhibition broadens the term rapture to encompass his fascination with particular objects and images and his subjective responses to this visual stimuli.
Rapture most commonly refers to the ascension from earth to heaven, whereas the less commonly known rapture of death refers to the ecstatic joy of temporarily escaping death.
Aaron likens his choice of images and objects to the mysterious and elusive process of rapture, although investigates more earthly transportations, such as the transformation of a photograph into a painting, or an object into a sculpture. Aaron also views his choice of images as linked to Gibson’s discussion of the rapture of death, selecting images that evoke time and mortality, an extension of the memento mori painting tradition.
Drawing from his undergraduate and postgraduate bodies of work as well as recent work, Aaron recontextualises photographic portraits, photographs of sculptures and found objects in his ongoing investigation of rapture.
Image: Melancholia, 2015, oil on canvas
