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After years of searching for beauty with a camera, photographer Kevin Van Aelst opted for a new challenge using food and...sweaters to produce art. Swide takes a peek.

Kevin Van Aelst is one of the New York Times Magazine's most original contributing photographers. Inspired by artists such as Tom Friedman and Andy Goldsworthy, and after years of discovering moments of beauty to capture photographically, Van Aelst realized he was after a new challenge and the opportunity to experiment with a new technique, to show irony through art.

"The Golden Mean", made with a slice of bread, was his first attempt: “Anyone could have done this if they had just thought of it first (…) It’s about the demystification of the art process, about art being revered and something that only trained people can do...”

Five years later and Van Aelst has refined his technique, producing such pieces as apples representing the world, gummy bears replacing the table of elements, and fingerprints produced from sugar and mustard.

"My color photographs consist of common artifacts and scenes from everyday life, which have been rearranged, assembled, and constructed into various forms, patterns, and illustrations. The images aim to examine the distance between the ‘big picture’ and the ‘little things’ in life—the banalities of our daily lives, and the sublime notions of identity and existence."

Van Aelst’s work showcases a particular fascination with the sciences, from fractal geometry (“Logaritmic Spiral”, made with milk drops) to astronomy (“The Summer Sky Over New England”, a picture of lint on a sweater) to Biology (“Cellular Mithosis”, an introduction to the process of biological duplication illustrated by krispy cream biscuits). It’s not a casualty, since the artist, as a kid, was passionate about math and science.

Science rules are not the only childish reminiscence he expresses with his pictures: talking about “Right Ring Finger” (above), a fingerprint realized from chips, he says: “I had such a specific memory of going to my friend's basement to play Nintendo and eat junk food. He had this chocolate brown rug. I really wanted to find that.”

Kevin is exhibiting at the 14th annual PRC Juried Exhibition, at the Photographic Resource Center of Boston University. Find more information about him on his website www.kevinvanaelst.com.

 

Giuliano Federico

Source & Photo Credits: Kevin Van Aelst

 

 

TAGS: kevin van aelst tom friedman andy goldsworthy new york times magazine artists food photography