Featured Maker: Aaron Ristau

Colorado artist Aaron Ristau works in assemblage. His pieces include both functional accessories and pure sculpture.

I create art that compels the viewer to interact. The artwork creates curiosity by blending nostalgic aesthetics, historical references, and function.
My whimsical mechanics and functional lighting assemblages are an intricate integration and redefinition of reclaimed components.

Shown uppermost is his Frontier Cartography Droid (sold), which incorporates a working Sega Homestar planetarium. The body is made from a three-neck flask, the legs from sewing machine parts and clothes irons.

DeJur Electra Box, a personal accessory case that incorporates LED projectors equipped with irising apertures. Brightness, blinking, and color are controlled from inside the box.

Lab Glass Chandelier. Functional assemblage. Surface-treated surplus scientific glassware, lab kit, electrical components.

Marfa Light Repeater. Powered assemblage. Surplus electrical equipment, glass projector slides.

Roto-bot-mouse (sold). Functional assemblage. Typewriter keys, computer mouse parts, red lamp, brass spring, assorted mechanics.

Aaron grew up in Marfa, Texas, and is the son of two Masters-degreed artists. His father is noted kinetic sculptor Mel Ristau. Today Aaron lives and works in Loveland, Colorado with his wife, Melodie, and children, Ethan and Zowie. His work appears in Make 22. You can see more of it in Aaron’s Makers Market store.

More:

• The art of Aaron Ristau
• Examples of leverage in kinetic sculpture