2024 Protectorates Series

A “protectorate” is a concept founded in the field of international politics. A protectorate is an independent entity who controls its internal affairs while it has ceded foreign relations to another entity in exchange for physical protection. The protectorate represents a rare status in contemporary international relations in that it is not a fully autonomous state, yet it is also not a colony or possession of the protector.

“Protectorates” as an artistic project stems from a whole galaxy of planets referred to as the “alternate great foundation” from the artist's childhood. It started as drawings of planets when having to entertain himself at each parent’s workplace. Wilder's imagination was limited by some kind of writing implement and whatever scraps of paper were available.

In the moment of creation and daily make believe, the complexity of this galaxy came to eventually include not only planetary geographies and histories, but also economic/political/social alliances. In the 1990s, Wilder used clip art to design flags for these planets. Sadly, all details of this galaxy were lost except the clip art flags and the planet names. The artist remembers tiny little details here and there, but almost everything has been sacrificed on the altar of memory. Artworks in this “protectorates” project are abstract re-interpretations of the flags designed in the 1990s.

The “protectorates” artworks are intensely layered starting with a graphite sketch, followed by combinations of color pencil and ink, then pastel, then acrylic, then a final layer of color pencil and ink again. Layers represent the incredible complexity of this imaginary galaxy while also acknowledging that the surviving information is merely a shell with almost all details lost in decades of adulthood. Each layer partially conceals the layers beneath it and, occasionally, excavates small portions of what’s hidden underneath.

Despite the lost details of the planets comprising this galaxy, all are labeled with the term “protectorate,” obfuscating the identity of supposed protector(s). If these planets (and, by extension, the banners representing them in this project) are not, in fact, protected by any other entity, how could they be “protectorates”? As a large group of mostly forgotten imaginary planets, the whole 227 of them can be considered one entity protected from any other forced-forgotten childhood trauma.

Wilder sees this project as an unresolved question as well as a troubled collaboration between the artist he is now and the child he used to be. The gaps aren’t filled in, they’re partially covered and partially revealed with overlapping materials.

© 2025 Aaron Wilder. All rights reserved.