Future Aztek Designs

Aaron Hemeon from Tofino, BC., is an artist who creates custom hand crafted jewelery. I really like the organic feel of the copper around the selected stones. You can tell that the stone is almost dictating the form of the wire and once the seperate materials are entangled they become one cohesive piece. The 2 pics above are just a sample of his work. He has some other beautiful pieces that you can purchase on his Etsy Page Future Aztek

I asked Aaron to give some insight on his art and how the materials inspire the pieces. Here is his response.

"I started creating jewelry with a concern to acquire something concrete or more permanent from certain states of mind.  Many of us spend energy creating peace and joy in our lives.  It has been my aim that during the more desirable moments I could capture this outlook into a form of art.  This has lead to less prolific output, and a finicky motivation.  It has also increased my desire to attain the kind of attitude from which I work best.

Most of the pieces begin without a preconceived design.  I let the stone guide my hands; tending toward hesitations, never forcing any movements.  I have noticed that certain stones tend to encourage similar designs.  Every time I work with Amethyst the patterns lean toward ornate flourishes, whereas Tibetan black quartz usually comes out much more minimal.

While I appreciate "new age" books on stones and their "metaphysical properties," speculating on the healing potential of crystals is somewhere on my outskirts.  More than playing the role of healer, I see myself as a gatherer of power, offering it freely to those who are ready to carry new hope.  That being said, pride is a delicate subject for the men of North America.  Our fathers wear discount golf shirts, sensible pants and shuffle around their wood shops in well worn boat shoes.  The fashion genre of anti-fashion.  This is the individual who "doesn't wear jewelry." 

However, fashion has always contained an antithetical element within it which is usually at risk of been too odd and misunderstood or, on the other end, too trendy.  Beyond this infinite cycle of the "consumer," I think, awaits personal meaning.  That is to say, the particulars of one's dress are the touchstones, the sign posts that remind and mark the paths that lead to fuller understanding.  To adorn oneself in public is to have somehow acquired the confidence to do so.  There is a kind of permission for high dress.  In an ideal society individuality takes the place of simple identifications with genres (the surfer, the punk, the literary genius, the carpenter).

The challenges I now face and have struggled with since I began to create art have to do with the day to day interactions in business.  I beleive that the future of Canada has a lot to do with our ability to produce objects of worth out of raw materials.  Here in BC, we shipped a lot of wood overseas (to Japan) and didn't quite learn to create artifacts of the high skill level we find sold cheaply in our secondhand stores.  I am thinking about those hand carved bowls from Indonesia you can buy for a couple bucks at the salvation army.  When we the colonizers drop our financial hangups about whether "there's money in it," we get a chance to join the rest of the world cultures in telling our stories in priceless forms.  This, more than having an ideal household situation (a cabin in the woods, or a condo downtown) is what I see as the path that can glimpse a future for all of us a thousand years off - infinite work that brings us closer, not farther from nature."