HardShapes x Degruyter

This piece is in collaboration with Aaron deGruyter, my good friend and studio mate. This is based off of our many talks about the hope that watching the cycles of life and death brings.

“The painting is an altar to the delicate and harsh, the sacred and profane, the vivid colors of life and the black unknown of death. It is a portrait of an ongoing conversation between two artists about the ongoing cyclical process of regeneration through disintegration.”

-Aaron

“We’re always experiencing little deaths. Endings to stories, relationships, parts of ourselves. These little deaths have taught me death always leads to life. No matter how difficult, terrifying or painful an ending is, something new always comes from the remains. And that this cycle isn’t just hope, it’s a certainty.

By embracing these little deaths in all their grief and wisdom, the cycles of my life seem to flow endlessly in growth.”

-HardShapes

4/6/2025