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Michael Aakhus
USA
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“I travel to places where traditions remain alive and resilient.”
Michael Aakhus is an artist and traveler whose life and work are deeply shaped by cultural encounters and an authentic embrace of identity. His creative practice reflects an enduring interest in the diversity of human experience and the distinctive character of the world we share. Rather than seeking inspiration in globalized urban centers, he turns toward places that remain rooted in tradition, where ways of life have been preserved through resilience and continuity.
Flight to the Gate | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
This digital artwork was inspired by a trip to Venice. It's remarkable architecture rising from water was truly magical. I wish to alert my audience to the fact that with the effects of global warming we are at risk of loosing this treasure of human imagination and creative will. With that same will and Creative imagination this wonder can be preserved.
His journeys have carried him to small communities in Latin America, the remote villages of the Indian Himalayas, the shrines of Southeast Asia, and the Ivory Coast of West Africa. In these regions he has witnessed both the lasting impact of conquest and colonization and the remarkable endurance of indigenous cultures. What inspires him most is not the violence of the past but the strength of communities that have preserved and adapted their traditions in the face of adversity.
Talking Back | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
I have had the pleasure of living with parrots, truly remarkable birds, intelligent playful members of our family. I recall being on the thid floor of the home and hearing my partner calling out with great concern my name. Rushing downstairs to discover it was the African gray. It was such an accurate reproduction of my partner's voice I was never able to distinguish the two and I was making that trip frequently. It was my error though to reward this behavior with treats.
Michael is fascinated by the creative dialogue that occurs when indigenous cultures encounter outside influences. Far from being erased, these traditions often borrow selectively, transforming what they take in while reinforcing their own beliefs. This process demonstrates both resilience and invention. In it, Michael recognizes a parallel to his own practice, in which he draws upon diverse experiences to create new expressions that merge personal memory with cultural history.
“Magical Realism enters when memory blends with lived encounters.”
His artistic development recalls a pivotal moment in modern art. Just as Picasso’s encounter with African art profoundly influenced the formation of Cubism, Michael’s exposure to remote cultures has shaped the language of magical realism in his work. The visual vocabulary of his paintings and digital pieces does not imitate these cultures but allows their presence to expand and inform his imaginative world.
Many Choices, So Many to Consider | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
In my dreams I very often arrive at this place and must choose which way to go. Magic awaits, but which one do I choose?
One of my favorit films, Doctor Strangelove and How I Learned to Love the Bomb, was the inspiration for this work. The ironic humor to address serious world ending technology, is a Kubrick masterpiece. I have made an effort to juxtapose in visual terms similar ironic commentary.
How I Learned to Love the Bomb | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
Within this realm, Michael constructs a personal mythology. His images explore the persistence of traditional cultures, the shaping of gender roles, and the ways identity continues to evolve in the modern world. The narratives that emerge from his canvases represent a synthesis of the stories he has encountered abroad and the inner stories that define his own life. This interplay of influences allows him to create work that is both intimate and universal.
“Through travel and intuition, I weave encounters with remote cultures into art that speaks of resilience, mythology, and the unresolvable mysteries that keep life vibrant.”
“As an artist, I create to understand the connections that bind us across time and culture. I travel not to places overtaken by globalization, but to those where traditions endure with strength and subtlety. In the villages of Latin America, the shrines of Southeast Asia, the highlands of the Himalayas, and the communities of West Africa, I have witnessed resilience that reshapes my vision of the world. These experiences are not things I copy onto canvas. Instead, they are impressions that sink into memory, surfacing later in unexpected ways. I often begin with photographs, but they are only fragments. The real work emerges when intuition leads me beyond them, into images that surprise me, revealing connections I had not consciously sought. At times, a work seems to take on its own life, as if guided by something larger than my intent. For me, art’s purpose is not to finalize answers but to open doors into uncertainty. It is in mystery, in that fertile space where the known and unknown meet, that art comes alive.”
Religious iconography and spiritual traditions form another layer of his practice. He looks to the symbols, imagery, and rituals of diverse cultures to examine questions of belief, transcendence, and the human search for meaning. Rather than adhering to a single worldview, his art opens space for dialogue among traditions, revealing the ways in which diverse spiritual practices echo one another and illuminate shared concerns.
Aphrodite Rises from the Sea | Color Photography
$3,000
60 X 40
The Greek Goddess Aphrodite is an iconic subject throughout the history of art. I have added my personal idealisation to the historic compendium to the goddess of love and beauty.
The process behind his work is both intuitive and deliberate. Michael begins by selecting photographs from his travels, some chosen as source material and others set aside. He follows his instincts, gravitating toward images that resonate aesthetically and emotionally. These photographs become the seeds for paintings and digital works that combine careful observation with imaginative reconstruction.
The Gilded Cage | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
There are two types of confinement, physical and spiritual. Each exerting it's own type of pain. Growing up as a gay man in the 1950s was an experience that posed great spiritual challenges.
Over the course of his career, Michael has come to view an artist’s output as a growing compendium of interconnected works. Within this ongoing practice, certain pieces stand apart. At times, a painting or digital composition seems to acquire an independent life, presenting itself as something beyond the artist’s conscious intention. Such works reveal the mysterious capacity of art to exceed the maker’s control and take on new meaning.
Mythological God, enthroned upon the Sea is an hommage to my Norse heritage as well as my interest in Maya culture. According to Maya mythology the world is sectioned into three levels, the underworld, the earth and the celestial realm. The serpent in the underworld, the jaguar on the Earth and the quezal bird in the celestial realm are the rulers of their respective realms.
Master of the Sea | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
“Intuition transforms photographs into images that surprise even me.”
Birth of Venus | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
An hommage to Botticelli's Venus Rising from the Sea with a twist. It is a challenge to gender norms and a liberation from conventional views.
This phenomenon, once attributed to the muse, is now often understood as the emergence of subconscious connections. For Michael, it reflects the resurfacing of forgotten encounters, unspoken emotions, and layered impressions gathered across years of travel and reflection. These hidden sources reappear in unexpected ways, infusing his work with elements of magical realism that blur the line between reality and dream.
In Maya myth the Earth Tree is a mediforical representation of the night sky. We observe the milky-way rising out of the underworld to be viewed from the earth, and over the evening spread across the celestial realm.
Earth Tree | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
Ultimately, Michael Aakhus believes that the highest purpose of art is not to resolve questions but to create spaces for mystery. His most meaningful works are those that transcend their material form, inviting contemplation, curiosity, and wonder. Through them he offers viewers an opportunity to experience the convergence of cultural memory, personal mythology, and universal symbolism, all in service of opening doors to questions that remain unsolved yet profoundly resonant.
Dance of the Dead | Photoshop
$3,000
60 X 40
As a reference to Dia de los Mortes we observe the return of the ancestors to take part in the pleasures of the Earth. They are bsorbing the essence of their favorite food and being with family. They are again accommodating by the serpent, the jaguar and the quetzal bird.
“I paint not for answers, but to awaken mystery.”
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