Kevin Varner lived his entire life in the Varner family home, just outside the small town of Ogilvie, Minnesota. He had a restless mind that was always interested in exploring new things. During his life he worked on improving engine and windmill designs, optimizing the construction of solar arrays and in 1984 he was granted a patent for a “Lightweight heliostat system.” (It's a way to have a lot of mirrors easily follow the sun at a solar farm.)
Kevin was always socially awkward, choosing to rarely talk unless prodded by close members of his family. He really only ever opened up when talking about things he was passionate about. Subjects like solar power, quantum theory or ways to improve various mechanical items were some of the areas that held his interest.
In 1987 he turned his thoughts to drawing. Kevin never studied art; he simply wanted to take some of the ideas that were swirling in his head and share them with the world. He ended up creating about 100 pieces of original art that are a fusion of two different styles.
From the surreal school he imagined fantastical things, often blending one into the other. Impossible landscapes and images that are both familiar and alien.
From the folk art school he drew each piece with simple strong imagery, in bright colors and in a way they could be appreciated on a very immediate level. At first glance they seem rather straightforward. You discover deeper intentions only if you take a moment to look closer.
Kevin was always questioning conventional wisdom. One of the documents he wrote was titled, "Fact Today, Folly Tomorrow. Folly Today, Fact Tomorrow." He went into considerable detail about how he felt Darwin's arguments about Natural Selection and Evolution had serious problems. He didn't feel they were entirely wrong, but he also felt they weren't the final word on the matter either. Like any deep thinker, he just wanted answers to his questions when he found flaws in the traditional explanations.
In searching for answers to those questions, he read hundreds of books. In each one he underlined and made notes on points of interest. If something was particularly significant, he would put a small piece of paper to mark the page so he could quickly return to it later. His reading choices were very diverse, some of the books in his collection included:
Mark Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson's calendar"
Orson Wells, "The Third Man"
John Casti's "Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science"
Mao Tse-Tung's "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung"
The Department of the Army's, "U.S. Army Guide to Boobytraps"
Charles Darwin, "On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection"
and one he might have bought during a moment of self-reflection:
Anneli Rufus "party of one The Loner's Manifesto"
Several hundred of his marked up books were donated to the Mora County Library. Here's what a couple of them looked like with their paper tabs.
