MASSIMODECARLO is pleased to present Aaron Garber-Maikovska’s first solo exhibition with our Hong Kong gallery, entitled Valley Step. The exhibition comprises six of the artist's fluted poly works, distinguished this time by a textural yellow-ochre background that emanates warmth and evokes the arid southern California landscape where the artist resides.

Living amongst the endless views of the Los Angeles area and surrounded by majestic mountains and boundless desert landscapes, the artist draws inspiration from the vast terrain for the works on display. The exhibition is a merging of disparate worlds, a synthesis of the personal and the universal, the mythical and the concrete, all intertwined within one presentation.

The exhibition presents the organic growth of Garber-Maikovska's artistry, whose practice extends beyond traditional painting, embracing somatic expression as the heart of his creative process. He channels his body into an instrument of profound introspection and metaphysical exploration, surrendering himself to the flow of intuition and impulse.

Each of the six fluted poly canvases in the exhibition is anchored by an underlying black armature line, which the artist conceives as characters that he improvises with. This recurring motif imbues the works with a sense of movement as if the characters are engaged in a choreography or a conversation that unfolds before our eyes.

The artist's dark lines/characters act as conduits for the vibrant frequencies of colour that pulsate throughout each piece. These lines and characters’ silhouettes merge with the surrounding colours, forming a unified, breathing body. The fields of hues, or passages as the artist refers to them, are dynamic and interdependent, vying for space and interlocking with each other. They radiate an almost primal energy that reverberates from one work to the next, creating a sense of continuity and interconnectedness that underscores the whole exhibition.

The artist's creative process is a fusion of physicality and intuition. The canvases start off on the ground, where the artist lays down his background before meticulously crafting the black line that acts as a leading force for the composition. Then, he continues the canvases vertically, building them up with bars of vibrant colours and textured brushstrokes. Through the use of homemade oil bars, Garber-Maikovska can articulate a specificity of colour and light that embodies his visual language.

Through their dynamic, pulsing energy, the paintings in Valley Step offer a window into the artist's creative process and surroundings. As viewers immerse themselves in the world of Garber-Maikovska's paintings, they engage with the interplay of colour, light, and movement that brings them to life, offering a profoundly rich and communicative experience.