Waltham artist brings intricate paper art to library

Aaron Needle’s artwork is built layer by layer, with careful cuts, intricate patterns and images from another era. 

For the Waltham artist, bringing those elements together is especially meaningful because a rare condition affecting his vision makes the work all the more challenging. 

Needle is displaying his work at the Waltham Public Library through the end of August. His detailed compositions combine historical imagery, hand-cut paper and richly patterned marbled backgrounds.

In 1991, Needle was diagnosed with a rare, permanent condition called blepharospasm. The symptoms include painful nerve spasms around both eyes, dry eyes and light sensitivity. Together, they affect Needle’s visual field and can make taking stairs and walking in sunshine difficult.

“With the issues I have with my vision, bringing individual elements together to create a cohesive work of art is very satisfying,” Needle said. “There’s something very therapeutic about it.”

Needle’s art journey stared with designing handmade greeting cards and eventually developed into sophisticated, large-scale works requiring hours of careful cutting and layering.

His interest in fine art began even earlier, after taking an honors art history class during his senior year at Newton North High School.

“I learned to appreciate the significant contribution artists have made to cultures from prehistory to the present,” he said.

His pieces feature a central image surrounded by elaborate borders made from multiple layers of paper. Using an X-Acto knife, Needle can cut through up to eight layers at once to create intricate patterns with precise symmetry.

Trade cards, a form of advertising popular in the late 19th century, are used at the center of many of his compositions. Many are works of art in their own right. Needle uses ornate borders to complement and enhance the historical images, combining vintage material with modern artistry.

“A common criticism I hear from people is that I should simply create a pattern from the marbled paper — without putting an image in the center,” Needle said. “To me, that’s like asking Andy Warhol not to include images of Campbell’s soup cans. I view trade cards as integral to the finished piece. And I believe the fact that marbled paper and trade cards flourished during the same era contributes to the sense of harmony in my art.”

For more than 10 years, Needle has also worked as a gallery attendant at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, where he is surrounded by artwork and exposed to a variety of artists and styles.

Needle’s work has been exhibited at several local venues, including the Belmont Media Center and the Newton Free Library. He also sells his pieces at local craft shows.

“Though it’s made of all paper, I don’t describe my artwork as collage, but rather a ‘work of paper,’” Needle said. “If a person isn’t familiar with marbled paper, I tell them it’s the same kind of paper used to line the inside covers of old books.”

His current exhibition at the Waltham Library offers visitors a chance to see how layers of paper, historical images and carefully cut patterns can transform a sheet of paper into a piece of art.