Bio

Aidan Krell is a multimedia artist born in West Burlington, Iowa. After spending a decade in North Portland during his formative years, he returned to Iowa where he has continued developing his artistic practice. Krell works fluidly across various media, choosing materials and techniques based on monthly exploration cycles that reflect his commitment to continuous experimentation. He uses art as a learning tool to explore subjects like history, science, and engineering, etc.—areas he finds more accessible through creative practice than traditional study methods.

Artist Statement

My artistic practice centers on exploration—of media, technique, and the complex realities that shape our communities. I deliberately experiment with different materials while working primarily in acrylics, drawing inspiration from artists I’ve encountered through my social circle and attempting to understand their approaches through my own interpretation and replication.

Plein air painting forms the foundation of my technical development, teaching me to observe color, value, and form while discovering new ways of seeing the world around me. This practice in direct observation becomes the lens through which I approach all my work, whether I’m documenting recent local events in Burlington or processing experiences from longer travels.

My motivations shift organically from piece to piece. Sometimes I’m purely focused on mastering a new technique or exploring an unfamiliar medium. Other works function as political cartoons, responding directly to current events. But increasingly, I find myself weaving together social and cultural commentary with technical experimentation, using the methods of past masters to examine contemporary issues.

At the heart of my work lies an interest in challenging the protective barriers we construct around our beliefs and identities. Through my paintings, I aim to examine the economic, political, and environmental realities of how people live—particularly in Burlington—not to create despair, but to gently dismantle the defensive mechanisms that keep us from truly seeing one another.

This approach inevitably creates a fork in the road for viewers. Some respond with increased curiosity and openness, becoming more willing to collaborate and understand different perspectives. Others retreat into defensiveness, rejecting alternative realities entirely. Both responses fascinate me, as they reveal something essential about how we navigate difference and uncertainty in our shared spaces.

Follow Aidan Krell on Instagram.