Earth, Iron, & Dust Exhibit by Aaron Squandroni

About

“These drawings explore mine pits as objects of art, as accidental sculptures on a
massive scale. Form emerges from the inside out and takes the shape of empty
space. A mine is both birth and death, a cemetery of past industry and the
creation of a new landscape.”

Designer and artist Aaron Squadroni lives on the Mesabi Iron Range in northern
Minnesota where he spends his days exploring the landscape of the region and
creating art that is about the places he encounters. His methods often involve
metalpoint drawing combined with found mine materials such as overburden rock,
tailings, and taconite pellets. Focusing on themes of nature, industry and memory,
Squadroni creates drawings that explore the visible and unseen tensions in the
landscape of northern Minnesota. References to these themes appear in
Squadroni’s works of public art, most notably in his experimentation with
weathered steel and mine rock. When designing public art, Squadroni considers
how the location and landscape of a community shape its identity. He works with
materials that come from the local landscape and have cultural meaning to the
people living there. Through research and experimentation, he is able to use the
materials in new ways that speak to the past, present, and future of the region. A
graduate of the University of Minnesota Masters of Architecture program,
Squadroni’s design experience has allowed him to produce public art that
combines landscape, furniture and sculpture for the cities of Chisholm, Coleraine,
Grand Rapids, Hibbing, and Virginia Minnesota.