Collection: Frederick Aragón Bio

Artist Statement

Frederick Aragón is a unique yet common man of Southwestern descent, with Navajo, Hispanic, and Anglo heritage coursing through his veins and influencing his art. His stories, told in paintings that make our hearts beat faster, lead us to reflect on our choices and how they affect the lives around us. For more than a decade, he made his living as a third-generation railroader, a Western tradition with its own culture, but he never stopped pursuing his art—and indeed expanded the media in which he works.

The act of laying paint on canvas is Aragón’s first artistic love. He is known for creating different series of paintings, including the Strong Woman, Taos Dreams, Little Dancers, and Spirit Pony series, among others. His standalone landscapes capture the vastness of the Southwest. They may zoom in on a magpie sailing high over a canyon or juxtapose the magnificence of our environment with Earth’s “pale blue dot” place in the galaxy.

Many of his paintings combine different cultural and natural elements. “What appeals to me about these images is the swirl and blend of traditions,” he says. “These aren’t near-forgotten old ways, but a vital part of present life in Northern New Mexico.”

Of his more abstract work, he says, “These paintings incorporate dreamlike imagery that draws heavily on my interpretation of my Native heritage. Everything is filtered through personal experience, with much consideration given to what will make the most compelling image.”

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“Can you imagine the undiscovered—the unseen? Spirit? Prayer? Love, anger, or dark matter? The spaces between us and the known exist. What lies in those spaces? Technologies such as microscopes, radar, ultraviolet light, x-rays, and even 3D glasses allow us to see the previously unseen—and our natural senses, too, enable us to interpret the unspoken and the unseen. In an instant, you know if you’re loved or if anger is directed at you. My most recent work explores the