By Konner Hines
The Cleveland Observer
When Aaron D. Williams talks about his work, he doesn’t describe himself the way most emerging artists do. He doesn’t lead with exhibitions, accolades, or even aesthetics. Instead, he starts with neighborhoods, grandparents, cousins, school hallways, retail backrooms, and the feeling of being seen for the first time while drawing at a kitchen table.
And that’s what makes him different.
Before he became his artist persona “Aawful Aaron,” before the museum shows, before the branding, before the art, he was a kid from Collinwood who learned early that art could give him attention, pride, focus, and eventually, a profession.
Collinwood Roots, Two Worlds, One Artist
Aaron was born on East 140th, in his grandparents’ home on Argus Avenue. “Growing up down the way gave me pride, identity, soul, texture… the overall swag,” said Aaron. His childhood moved between Collinwood and the suburbs of Willoughby Hills, Euclid, and back to Willoughby, exposing him to a duality that shaped his artistic voice.
In Cleveland, he found culture, pace, and grit. In the suburbs, he found access to funding, art programs, and chances to grow creatively. “I had access to things I just didn’t know existed before. The resources allowed me to take the art further,” said Aaron.
Those contrasts, neighborhood swag versus suburban structure, emotion versus technique, still live in his work today.
When Art Became More Than a Hobby
Aaron realized he wanted to be an artist very young. His older cousins drew, and he chased the feeling of impressing the adults in the room. “When I made something and showed it to my grandparents, that attention felt good. It was the first time I felt seen,” said Aaron.
That early validation didn’t just open a door. It opened his sense of possibility.
ADHD Apparel: The First Brand, The First Blueprint
One of these possibilities was a clothing line. Before he was “Aawful Aaron,” he was a teen entrepreneur running ADHD Apparel, a clothing brand that became popular across Lake County schools.
ADHD stood for Always Determined, Highly Driven.
Aaron and his business partner tapped into the heartbeat of high school culture with parties, pop-ups, word-of-mouth marketing, and kids wearing the brand to colleges across Ohio.
It taught him early lessons about audience, momentum, and creative discipline. Eventually, he sold his stake. “I wanted to focus back on my art,” said Aaron. That decision became the foundation for his later multidisciplinary practice.
From Nordstrom Stockrooms to Artistic Independence
After ADHD Apparel, Aaron spent years at Nordstrom, moving from dock receiving to overnight unloading to visual merchandising to assistant management. Not glamorous, but vital.
“It was the best training I could’ve asked for. Everything I learned there became the backbone of how I run my business now,” said Aaron. Scheduling, logistics, presentation, communication, and operations became pillars of the creative studio he operates today. When the pandemic hit, he and his partner accepted severance packages and made the leap. Aaron filed his LLC and built the identity that would carry his multidisciplinary career forward.
Becoming “Aawful Aaron”
The name wasn’t an accident. It was strategy, character-building, and creative autonomy. He originally considered “Awesome Aaron.” Too clean. Too simple. No story.
Instead, he leaned into “Aawful,” a name that prompts curiosity. “If I leaned on ‘awful,’ it would draw people into the narrative. I wanted something original. Something sticky,” said Aaron. The persona became a vessel, a way to explore identity, duality, nostalgia, and reinvention, all recurring themes in his work.
What His Work Looks Like
Aaron’s body of work is defined by intentional layering, visually, conceptually, and emotionally.
- Layered, Chaotic, Composed
He blends bold colors, street-art influence, and structured fine-art composition.
He describes it as “intense chaos but composed,” said Aaron. - Musically Structured Painting
“The notes are the colors; the song is my composition,” said Aaron. - Centered on Black Identity and Reinvention
His pieces explore nostalgia, coming-of-age, and the pressure many Black artists feel to constantly grow, shift, and redefine themselves. - Autobiographical Storytelling
“It’s autobiographical… but told like a character,” said Aaron.
“The guitar was to commemorate recording artist and Cleveland native MGK, Machine Gun Kelly, for MGK Day 2025. The front and back portraits of the artist were painted while we were downtown, outside of Mall C, during the celebrity halftime show,” said Aaron. This piece shows his ability to merge portraiture, pop culture, and Cleveland-rooted storytelling on an unconventional surface.
His MOCA Breakthrough
In 2021, Aaron debuted his first major solo show at MOCA Cleveland, titled “Aawful Aaron.” The show was packed, and the response was electric. “That show really introduced me to a lot of people in the art space. It changed everything,” said Aaron.
It’s about young love
reuniting as older adults, so it’s them posing with themselves from high school. The Kintsugi gold cracks pay homage to the Japanese art form of repairing broken jewelry with gold,” said Aaron.
This work highlights his emotional range, from intimate narrative to symbolic detail.
Young Cleveland Renaissance
One of Aaron’s major long-term visions is Young Cleveland Renaissance, a creative ecosystem meant to uplift young artists and build long-term collaboration. He is taking the rollout slow and intentionally. He wants this future network to provide what he didn’t always have growing up: support, access, community, and opportunities rooted in Cleveland’s creative potential.
The Philosophy Fueling Him
Aaron is patient, intentional, and grounded in the belief that progress takes time. “Slow motion is better than no motion…You never really know. Sometimes the car was parked, going nowhere. But by the time I knew it, I was NASCAR,” said Aaron.
The Layered Evolution of Aawful Aaron
So who is he?
A painter.
A designer.
A storyteller.
A community builder.
A kid from Collinwood who learned to scale his universe outward, slowly and intentionally, layer by layer.
From Collinwood to a creative cosmos, Aaron D. Williams is not just expanding as an artist.
He is evolving as a multidimensional force whose work speaks to identity, history, reinvention, and the power of building yourself from the ground up.
Konner Hines is a member of the Honors College, and a marketing and human resources student at Baldwin Wallace University.
