When it comes to appreciating nature, Evans' preferences are deep and quirky.
While she could take or leave a breathtaking view from a mountaintop, she
could find the particular shape of a pod, spectacular. For Evans, NOTHING
could be as smart as the tiny strands of a feather, which together know
how to assemble into the perfect polka dot patterns of a guinea hen.
Evans has always been interested in a more focused view and the intimacy
of detail - be it in that feather, or a small-scale work of art that bears
evidence of very personal decisions and a close hand. Both require the kind
of keen attention that offers meaningful rewards and private awe.
Evans has turned that keen attention towards India for the past 11 years
and has studied Indian miniature paintings closely for as many. For Evans
these paintings hold a powerful sense of devotion - conveyed in part by
their imagery, conveyed in part by the time consuming skill they require,
but conveyed in sum through ornamentation. And where deities in the paintings
are garlanded, embellished, and surrounded by saturated colors and patterns,
many Indian streets, buildings, and homes are too. In both art and life's
daily rituals, ornamentation makes spirituality and devotion visible as
far as the eye can see.
It is this palpable connection between ornamentation and devotion that Evans
continues to explore, investigating how it can be visually expressed and
recognized outside the context of religious adoration. Borrowing imagery
and processes from Indian miniatures, she replaces Hindu Gods with elements
from nature, which she chooses to honor and embellish instead. She situates
these festooned elements, ranging from traditional representations of water,
lotus or trees from Pahari and Rajasthani Paintings or Jain Cosmology Diagrams,
to micro and macro photos of plants, in contexts that embrace both the meditative
and the pop.
Combining Eastern, Traditional, Figurative painting with Western, Contemporary
Abstraction, Evans creates delicate, fluid works that cross time, space
and place. Seeking to locate where the ephemeral essence of devotion lies,
her recent, paired down works ask in a more focused way, is it conveyed
through the relationships created within a drawing or painting, or does
the sense of devotion in a work of art lie in the very process of its making?
Lesson from a Guinea Hen 2008 [view
images]
Works on paper 2008 [view
images]
Paintings 2005-2007 [view
images]