Image by Aaron Kent
The Contemporary Art Center’s (CAC) latest exhibition, Aaron Kent: Stains and Relics, highlights the multifaceted work of Cincinnati-born sculptor and screen printer Aaron Kent.
As a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Kent has spent much of his career exploring the intersection of ceramics and printmaking, and the Stains and Relics series exemplifies the synthesis of the two mediums. His work, shown in the CAC’s community gallery, celebrates imperfection, process, and the creative possibilities that emerge when artistry meets experimentation.
Kent’s journey as an artist began in childhood, influenced by his mother. “I’ve been into art ever since I can remember,” he says. “She would take class or get me to take classes.” Kent and his mother connected through ceramics, and that collaboration became foundational for his work. After her passing, he turned to ceramics as a way of maintaining that connection.
Image by Aaron Kent
“The ceramics are very heavily influenced [by] my mom,” Kent explains. “My mother and death has sort of created this new involvement of ceramics.” This personal input in his work, exhibiting both intimacy and emotional depth, give the pieces in Stains and Relics a deeper meaning.
The exhibition includes sculptural ceramics, pit-fired vessels, tile insulation, and screen-printed etching. Control and chance interplay in each work, highlighting the artist’s fascination with imperfection. Kent describes the unpredictable nature of pit firing as central to the process. “When they do crack, putting them back together or even just leaving the crack in there, it starts becoming its own piece,” he says.
Cracks, chips, and subtle variations are embraced rather than erased, transforming the flaws into aesthetic features, something that exhibition curator and Director of Education, Elizabeth Hardin-Klink, wants to highlight. “You couldn’t replicate that, which is what makes it so special. The print process too is highlighting those imperfections, something that normally we have to turn the other way,” she says. “It’s just really important because our perfections are what make us human.”
Several pieces in the exhibition exemplify this approach. Ceramic bowls, though traditionally functional, are rendered purely as art, their surfaces marked by fire and texture. These vessels when photographed and screen printed, became entirely new artwork. There are three-dimensional qualities translated into layered visual forms.
Image by Aaron Kent
Hardin-Klink further emphasizes Kent’s long-standing role in Cincinnati’s arts community and the exhibition’s broader significance: “We have worked with Aaron through his studio, DIY Printing, through our school outreach program … it’s the [most] requested tour for all of the teachers [and] all of the kids.” Kent’s involvement with DIY Printing has cultivated a creative community in the city, helping local students learn about careers in art.
The exhibition is a natural fit for the CAC’s community gallery, a space dedicated to creativity and engagement. Hardin-Klink explains that the gallery allows Kent’s work to communicate directly with audiences of all ages, offering an approachable entry point into the artistic process. “As we get older, we think creatively less and less, and our brains are trained to do that because we’re so worried about not being perfect and making a mistake. And so having a show that highlights those imperfections and, really not just acknowledges them, but celebrates them, I think is just a perfect fit for that space.”
Aaron Kent: Stains and Relics is on view at the Contemporary Arts Center from November 20 to January 11.
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