Arts Directory

About

Columbia, SC artist Kathryn Van Aernum works in both the commercial and artistic worlds of photography. Her commercial work encompasses people, environments, and events for both profit and non-profit institutions. Kathryn received a BA in Visual Art from Naropa University in 2004, the premier educational institution to bring mindfulness and contemplative education to the West. It is this foundation that feeds her personal work, whose themes have focused on inner transformation through crisis, humanity’s relationship to the earth, and even a humorous look at the ubiquitous presence of corporate branding in the background of our lives.

While photography is her primary medium, she is also an accomplished watercolorist, mixed media, and book artist. She teaches classes—cross-generationally—in photography, creative process, watercolor, and journal making. She emphasizes working with hands-on traditional mark-making and contemplative practice as essential tools in stimulating cognition and the creative process. And through her coaching, she has aided professionals who have buried their creative soul in the daily grind reclaim creative confidence so they can thrive at work and beyond.