AAE Russell is a digital artist and photographer based in West Michigan, and a graduate of Kendall College of Art & Design. Their work brings color, light, and calm into hospitals and healing spaces.
Artist Statement
I create art that helps people feel present. Using light and digital tools, I explore how simple imagery can calm the body and mind.
I create art that helps people feel present. Using light and digital tools, I explore how simple imagery can calm the body and mind.
In 2019, I started Visual Meditation Art as part of my meditation routine. Now, I’m studying how this art form can support healing through the body’s natural rhythms and nervous system.
My goal is to make mindfulness something you can see. In both my digital work and photography, I aim to capture small, beautiful moments that help people reconnect—with themselves, and with the world around them.
CV
- 2020 KCAD Art AND Scholarship Award recipient
- 2020/21 Kendall Portfolio Scholarship recipient
- 2021 KCAD Award of Excellence grant winner
- 2021 Ferris Foundation Opportunity Award grant winner
- 2021 May, Producer Lily Guilder fashion show at Camp V, CO
- 2021 September, Telluride Arts show featured artist
- 2021 Summer, Ottawa County Area Trust photography award winner
- 2022 Summer, Washtenaw County art show
- 2022 Front page featured article of the Grand Haven Tribune
- 2022 Art Prize, KCAD Top Ten award recipient
- 2023 April, CU Boulder Psychedelic Symposium panel artist
- 2023 May, Academic Honors graduate from KCAD
- 2023/24 Producer (Im)Mature Masculine Podcast Link
- 2023/24 Monroe Community Church winter featured artist
- 2024 April, artwork on display at Clear Sky Eyecare Grand Rapids, MI
- 2024 June, featured artist at Hall Street Bakery, Grand Rapids, MI
- 2024 September, Art Prize featured artist at Clear Sky Eyecare
- 2024 July, Art Prize selection committee, Monroe Community Church
- 2023 August, Sixth Street Bridge on permanent display at Embassy Suites Hilton GR, MI
- 2024 September, Creative Mornings featured submission Link
- 2024 September, Creative Director at SILVA
- 2024 October, featured artist at Wealthy Street Bakery
- 2024 November, Volunteer Art Director, Monroe Community Church GR, MI
- 2025 Naropa Grant recipient and Academic Honors Scholarship
I believe the solutions to our problems are simple, and that energy is our most valuable currency. Despite external advancements in technology and material goods, we must also nurture our internal biology. Human potential is at its peak when we look inward, reconnect with the energy of our hearts, and repair relationships with our bodies and the planet. This inner work empowers us to create a better world, fostering more joyful life experiences for all.
"What we seek externally is already within us. Our bodies are vessels for energy to flow through. To be grounded, true to ourselves, and fully present in the moment is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves, others, and the Earth."
- AAE. RUSSELL