Nicholas Aiden is a queer artist from St. John’s, NL, holding a BFA in Photography from OCAD University. Their work has been shown in Canadian galleries such as Gallery TPW, Arsenal Contemporary, The Confederation Centre for the Arts, and The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery. Aiden's work has been featured in the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival and in various publications, magazines, and books. In 2019 Aiden was longlisted for the Scotiabank New Generation Photography Award. In support of their practice, Aiden has received funding from ArtsNL and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Aiden’s artistic practice focuses on the emotionality of queer identity and intimacy, and the social navigation of the ‘self’. They explore these themes with a keen interest in the social organization of interior and exterior spaces– emotional and corporal, indoor and outdoor, public and private, digital and physical, queer and non-queer. They ponder the multiplicities held within the unseen experiences of queerness, and the moments where it is apparent that there is a disconnect between seeing and knowing. The moments of knowing something is more than what it appears to be, the instances where a fleeting moment of eye contact communicates everything and more; the spotlight on that which hides in plain sight.
As they study the social conventions of space, Aiden roots their artwork in their experiences moving through the motions of queerness and the moments they find themself knowing just a queer bit more. By exploiting the familiarity of colour, pose, texture, material, and objects, Aiden prompts viewers with opportunities to contemplate their own relationships to the body, identity, and space using their own visual vocabulary.
Thank you!
