FOUNTAINS, FLOWERS AND A WAVE
2006
Silicon carbide, paint, artex, polystyrene, can, cigarette butts
87 x 65 x 79 in
2007
Resin, bag, foam, sand, hydroponic light
32 x 45 x 45 in
2006
Resin, clay, steel, mirror
66 x 84 x 95 in
2006
Hydroponics, water, wax, aluminium, steel
17 x 26 x 55 in
2006
hydroponics, water, wax, aluminium, steel
37 x 26 x 46 in
2006
Hydroponics, water, wax, aluminium, steel
81 x 20 x 60 in
2004
Hydroponics, water, wax, aluminium, steel
95 x 61 x 24 in
2003
hydroponics, water, wax, aluminium, steel
122 x 62 x 24 in
2006
Paint, resin, clay, steel and perspex
49 x 36 x 36 in
2006
Resin, varnish, clay, steel, paint, butterfly
7 x 29 x 7 in
2005
Resin, clay, steel, wire, perspex
49 x 27 x 41 in
These works from 2003 to 2010 were made while showing with Maureen Paley gallery in London. They all share an alchemic interest in nature either as an apocalyptic force such as the wave in Black Grape or Broken Mirror, as a means of distributing (or discussing the urban growth of) hallucinogenic drugs such as in the fountains use of hydroponic equipment and as a means of spiritual transcendence which was considered while making Versus which is a sculpture of a rose based on the form of a spaceship.
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Comprised of a sculpted hooded jumper connected to a hydroponics unit, Hoodie broaches abstraction with a variety of cultural references. Using drug paraphernalia as a kind of plinth ― as a foundation for altered perspective and as a source and receptacle for the endless cycle of dripping water that perspires from the sculpture ― Evans’s sweatshirt is bolstered as a totemic psychological portal. Hanging as a vacant shroud, Evans’s jacket invokes associations with chav fashion and religious garb. Coated in wax, the draping suggestion of a figure is given a malleable tarry skin, through which embedded tubes emit sweat or crying-like streams of water, creating an image of addiction, suffering, and catharsis. The faint sounds of ‘rain drops’ caused by the precipitous cycle give the piece an air of contemplative sadness.
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In Black Grape, Evans’s giant wave towers over the viewer with an air of tremendous sadness. Made from silicon carbide, a material used for grinding rocks and cutting diamonds, Black Grape’s dark swell is a metaphor for existential crisis, desire and grief. Personifying his raw force of nature with fag butts and a beverage can, Evans renders a sense of powerlessness in the face of immense beauty and devastation. The palm tree on the Black Grape drink logo mirrors the curvaceous composition of the wave.