Kevin Van Aelst

Aelst was born in New York and grew up in Pennsylvania, he received a B.A. in Psychology and later an MFA in what I assume to be photography. His work is simple--he photographs ordinary objects with imaginative elements in them to convey the extraordinary in everyday ..things, and the power of the mind and inspiration. They're beautifully taken, very clean, and I'm all about that. I also connect deeply with the documentation of normal objects, since I do so much of that myself, and exploring what makes the little things so beautiful and awe-inspiring. Here's his website and I've included his artist statement below.

My artwork is an attempt to reconcile my physical surroundings with the fears, fascinations, curiosities, and daydreams occupying my mind. The photographs and constructions consist of common artifacts, materials, and scenes from everyday life, which have been rearranged and reassembled into various forms, patterns, and illustrations. The images aim to examine the distance between where my mind wanders to and the material objects that inspire those fixations. Equally important to this work are the ‘big picture’ and the ‘little things’—the mundane and relatable artifacts of our daily lives, and more mysterious notions of life and existence. This work is about creating order where we expect to find randomness, and also hints that the minutiae all around us is capable of communicating much larger ideas.