Painter Aaron Hill is a proud nostalgist.
Photo by Ricardo Tejeda
According to Dartmouth researchers, the stress of losing your job falls somewhere between preparing for Christmas with the in-laws and serving jail time. But for Asheville painter Aaron Hill, getting pink-slipped was one of the most relieving moments of his life.
It happened four years ago. Hill was working as a project manager for a sign-installation company — a job he describes as “completely uninspiring” — while practicing oil painting on the weekends. He wanted to quit and make art his 9-to-5, but the “annoying habit” of paying his mortgage kept Hill chained to the salaried position.
And then, during the thick of the pandemic, Hill received his termination notice (aka the catalyst for his creative career).
“I decided to literally pretend to be a full-time artist until severance ran out, and then I would scurry back to the sign industry for a paycheck,” says Hill.
“It’s been four years now, and I’m still at it.”
Today, Hill works out of Pink Dog Creative in the River Arts District, where, according to his artist’s statement, he “follows his art wherever his mind may take him.” Lately, that’s been recreating old family photos in exacting detail, capturing not only the subjects but also intimate nuances of the photograph itself: dates written in rushed cursive, tattered and dog-eared edges, blurriness caused by an antsy toddler.
“Old photographs are relics from the past that have had to survive shoeboxes and closets and bookshelves,” says Hill. “I think about these things as I recreate these old photographs for families. I believe it’s a way for the days gone by to come alive again.”
Hill also enjoys the process, as meticulous as it might be.
“I love capturing likeness and expression on faces that scale out to be no more than a few inches,” he says. “Painting faces so small, so precisely, can end up being all about the perfect, tiny brushstroke to make the mouth have the slight grin that I’m seeing in the original photograph.”
For his newest body of work, Hill has been replicating polaroids from his childhood in Bristol, Virginia. (He moved from neighboring city Bristol, Tennessee, in 2018, relocating to Asheville to be closer to his brother and the 828’s thriving arts scene.) The project has him thinking a lot about his grandad, Carl Jessee, who was a sign painter, artist, and founder of Bristol Sign Company.
“His influence is huge on my love of art and dedication to my painting,” says Hill. “I grew up painting billboards with him and lettering everything from office doors to the local NASCAR racetrack.”
When Hill wasn’t helping his grandpa at the shop, he was collecting baseball cards. He still remembers opening trading cards on the sidewalk with his friends — “bubble gum included,” he quips — and hoping for a Bo Jackson or José Canseco.
Now 46, Hill recreates the baseball cards of his youth, painting “old legends” like Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle and “baseball oddballs” like Roland “Rollie” Fingers and Dennis Ray “Oil Can” Boyd.
In that way, nostalgia is at the heart of Hill’s work.
“I’ve always been a nostalgic person,” he says. “My art is about going back to rescue the past from being forgotten or left behind.”
Aaron Hill, Asheville. Hill is represented by Pink Dog Creative (342-348 Depot St., Suite 104, River Arts District, pinkdog-creative.com). To learn more about the artist, visit aaronhillart.com.