Roaring Fork Valley artist Nicholas Ward will present his first-ever solo show in Aspen, “Between the Real,” along with an opening reception from 6 to 10 p.m. July 2 at Aspen Collective.
The gallery is located at 213 Mill St. Community members are invited to attend, meet the artist and enjoy complimentary cocktails. Ward said he is looking forward to connecting with locals and visitors in person during the event.
“So much of painting is hearing what people see as stories in my work, with half the story told, and the rest left to the viewer,” Ward told The Aspen Times.
His new show of 15 works showcases a new body of oil paintings and charcoal drawings. He centered his latest work on searching for the link between the evolution of technology and the human desire to connect, and by extension the connection to the natural world.
“It’s been a great experience putting it all into the gallery space and seeing how the different pieces kind of talk to one another,” Ward said, who studied art at the University of Denver and graduated in 2017.
His visual narratives play with scale and proportion as he seeks to explore the reliability of memory and the challenge of it shifting, distorting and evolving over time. He questions how personal experiences influence perspective.
“En Masse No. 2” by Nicholas Ward.Nicholas Ward Studios/Courtesy photo
“Ward’s paintings acknowledge the wonder and possibility of technological innovation while also questioning how we preserve meaningful connections to nature and one another,” a press release for the opening event states.
Ward added in the release, “The feeling of interacting with something powerful that cannot quite be fully seen, like artificial intelligence, is a wholly unique sensation. At the same time, what still feels most real and meaningful is often the simplest human experiences: attention, ritual, the natural world, and connection to one another.”
The show will be on view at Aspen Collective from Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through July 15.
For more information, visit aspencollective.com. To learn more about Nicholas Ward and his work, visit nicholaswardstudios.com.