Kim Aerts

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Kim Aerts, Nova Scotia.
Kim Aerts is an artist who was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His parents, who immigrated from Europe, instilled in him a love of the old world and a fascination for ancient places and things. From these interests he started drawing and painting at a young age. As a teen, he had the opportunity to study with renowned Smithsonian artist Eleanor Kish, who taught him the fundamentals of working in oil paints and landscapes.

He attended Mount Allison University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the late 80s. He then traveled and lived in both Europe and the Northwest Territories before returning to Nova Scotia to settle down. He married and with his partner founded a graphic design firm which he helped run since the mid-1990s.

Throughout this time, Kim continued his art and worked in the mediums of sculpture and photography before returning to painting in oils on canvas. Kim paints landscapes but beneath the surface he is exploring the relationship of the viewer to the natural environment. The idea that animals (including humans) ideally like to position themselves in their environment to be able to see and not be seen is a fundamental concept he works with in his paintings. By both following the rules and occasionally breaking them he creates scenes that draw in the viewer and allows them to enter into another environment. He often works on smaller canvases as they require a greater focus and precision to both invite the viewer and engage them with the complexities that embody the soul of that landscape.