Interview with Aian Tabor
Words by Maya Bewley
Colourful and cosmic, Aian Tabor’s artwork finds breathing space in the technological fragments of the 21st Century. The artist’s vivid ensembles of paint and pen merge silhouettes of circuit-boards with echoes of human faces. Prior to their display at Norman Rea Gallery’s ‘Cache Money’ exhibition, we sat down with Tabor to delve behind his confoundingly intricate compositions.
We began by talking about what drives Tabor’s creativity: “I find it hard to pinpoint singular inspirations of mine for a few reasons. As I'm self taught, I'm still trying to understand what style works for me the best.” For Tabor, inspiration instead comes from the unexpected: “It could be from the smallest things such as how a chair looks in sunlight or watching anime! It seems as if it always comes to me, whether I search for it or not.”
Continuing, Tabor opened up about the kind of messages they would like people to grasp from their work. “A lot of my work focuses on identity and discovering myself… I want people to gain an insight into my mind in the truest way possible.” But the artist is also clear that they want their work to be understood through different lenses. “By gaining other perspectives, I get to see myself in other ways.” It’s hoped that this process of introspection will potentially influence the viewers of Tabor’s work as well. They explain: “The last two years have made me question myself more than ever in my life and although that's not my main intention, I'd like viewers to consider what it means to just take a different perspective towards themselves.” However philosophical this sounds, Tabor jokes: “sometimes I just make something that looks cool and I wanna share that with the world.”
Tabor explained the significance of technology as a recurring yet haunting theme within their work; tracing it back to the beginnings of their own existence. “Having been born in the 21st Century, it almost feels as if technology has been a part of me since the start. Technology has allowed me to explore not just art, but the entire world in ways that I don't even need to leave the comfort of my house. Which at times feels daunting and overwhelming.”
Following this theme into today’s climate, Tabor elaborated on the kind of uncomfortable omnipresence of technology in our lives: “We live in a time where we have the opportunity to consume almost everything and anything we can dream of, but that begins to leave little room for breathing space and feels hectic.” As they explained, Tabor believes in operating within this closeness between humans and technology, to unfurl its internal connections and make them explicit to the outside world: “My art leans towards my experience of how technology exists within us, but also how it begins to merge with our bodies. Some can see that as beneficial and others might fear such a change.”
And what about the future? Tabor brought to mind the classic visions of science-fiction: “Who's to say flying cars, robot nurses, 3D printed foods and extra-terrestrial human habitats won't become a reality within the next 30 years. I see a future of ease and lower maintenance but we'll have to be careful.” Like the messages seen in their own work, Tabor asks “Where will the line be?”
Turning again towards art, Tabor remains undecided of its fate in the hands of a technologically-saturated society. “Perhaps we'll see usage of more intricate technologies such as interactive holograms, nano technologies, and other techniques. But perhaps with the surfacing of NFTs, we'll see another similar and refined system to take its place. Additionally, the creation of spaces like the meta verse will introduce new ways to experience art.”
In the midst of many possibilities, there is a lingering optimism in Tabor’s final comments on the intersection between technology and art. “I hope that they can exist in harmony … so that we can see creations exemplifying what life means with new technologies.”
If you’d like to see Tabor’s mesmerising pieces, you can catch them at the Norman Rea Gallery’s upcoming ‘Cache Money’ exhibition, displayed above the Courtyard in Derwent College from the 10-28th October.
