Monica Aiello - "Surrounding Pele II." "Prometheus & the Ionian Garden." and "Pele West"

Denver-based artist/educator Monica Aiello is known for her mixed-media paintings inspired by space science. As she recounts, “Planetary scientists often reference the need to study the cosmos in order to gain a better understanding of ourselves.” Painting is her personal journey through processes, themes, and materials. Her work addresses geological forms while comparing their relationship to our own humanity. At first glance, her paintings appear to be purely abstract. However, upon closer inspection, one finds depictions of specific subjects - the pieces are topographical landscapes of our celestial neighbors. 

In preparation for her work, Monica works closely with the NASA community to better understand the bizarre geology and unique processes present on these fascinating worlds. Philosophically, she is struck by how such foreign and seemingly lifeless places relate to our own terrestrial biosphere. Visually, she is captivated by the commonality of forms present within our universe - shapes which seem as easily viewable beneath a microscope as through a telescope. These universal forms, which she terms “Cosmorphology”, form a visual vocabulary which repeats throughout her work.

For many years, Monica has been captivated by Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io and has had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s top Io specialists. Works from her “Ionian Garden Series” interpret real, albeit unfamiliar vistas. Her pieces are highly sculptural and are meticulously built with layer upon layer of mixed media ~ placed like strata ~ to emulate Io’s mysterious surface. She utilizes acrylic, paper, ink, gel, fiber, heat, air, gravity and water in attempts to convey the highly active volcanic features. She is also impacted by how the aerial views of Io relate visually to botanical and biological forms found on Earth. The giant volcanoes, lava flows, sulfuric colors and gaseous plumes can be compared to blooming gardens, coral reefs and philodendron leaves. With this series, she is interested in capturing the dichotomy of the geological vs. biological, macroscopic vs. microscope, as it relates to astrobiology, evolution and our own humanity.