Aaron Cowan earned his BFA from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. An artist and arts organizer, he co-founded and directed the visiting artist residency for ARC in Chattanooga. His research, mixed media sculptures, performance, and videos explore psychology, play, labor, desire, masculinity, and violence. He scouts thrift stores and junk yards, hunting for objects and materials that carry an aura and history, reclaiming car parts, broken tools, and worn sports equipment and making them into softer expressions as actions against the hierarchies of gender.