books on tape. Artist's blog: Stephen W. Evans

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I have been dabbling in video a little lately and I have produced these two short films thus far. I have other ones I am working on, but I thought I would post these for now because they are more-or-less finished. They are each three minutes long and show a very still scene from nature, accompanied by somewhat of a dismal droning sound. In these pieces my aims are a few: Firstly it is to touch on the theme of the sublime and the proposition set forth by Kant, that the sublime was something that provokes both joy and some kind of terror, or, as I describe it as, angst. There is this overwhelming feeling when we see certain things, whether a painting, the ocean, the horizon, great colors of the sky, mountains; all these things that produce this feeling of joy and angst, as if our bodies and souls are filled with a gaping wonder and this need for instantaneous knowledge of the thing when we see it. Yet it does not come. The grandiose awe of the phenomena makes our spirits squirm. That is something I try to touch on in these videos: there is a peaceful and pastoral scene, yet at the same time there is something that makes the viewing feel tense. Which leads to the next objective: Waiting. There are these passages of open sky within the frames, the image of the infinite, nothing and yet everything all at once, and where the heavens meet the earth. The idea being that there is this longing for the things which lay beyond, and there is this tense waiting and watching, for something to happen, for everything to happen, which in itself holds a beauty, yet is still susceptible to an angst and doubt. The films end without anything seemingly happening, yet what you are watching is everything happening. The world existing in space and in infinity. So simple and yet so complex; and in conjunction, the lens of the camera serves as a metaphor, or parallel rather, of the human eye, and how something so small can perceive so much.

(Headphones help the viewing experience)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

GOING

Latex on linen and wall

12x12"

I am still working on this body of paintings, and I have been really excited about them. The ends for the means of this body of work is for a three person show I will be apart of at the University of Maryland in September, with Lilly Kuonen and Emily Rodia. I am very excited to be exhibiting with these ladies, and absolutely thrilled to see our work together.

This new painting (not yet titled) is actually the one that started my thinking about this suit of paintings, but was not executed till over a year later. So I have been carrying these ideas with me for some time now. What I like most about this piece is how the form (the cross) is breaking the frame, yet it is "holding" it to the wall, so to speak; and further still it highlights where wall meets painting and visa versa, as the others do. I have much more to say about these paintings, as well to continue my thesis (I have been doing some writing), which I will be posting at a later time.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

PROGRESS STILL

Latex on canvas and wall

12x12"

Still moving ahead in this body of work (and I apologize for the terrible images, but it is the best quality image I can get right now. I'll have better ones later on--I promise.) This piece is not yet titled, but eventually I will get down to naming these when I've moved along a bit more and have spent more time thinking on them.

Monday, June 11, 2012

PAINTING DEVELOPMENT : STUDIO SHOTS

Latex on canvas

24x24"

I'm furthering my experiences in painting and the different ways I can express the specific themes I've been dealing with in my work (e.i. space, time, the infinite, and ultimately questions of origins of both our art/art making, and our universe.) But furthermore, the topic in dealing with these subjects has been the theme of relationship and space particularly. Relation of the painting to the wall, and visa versa, and we as humans to the universe. One particular question that I keep in the back of my mind and contributes to my thinking of these pieces and in conjunction with relationship is, do I take part in God or does He take part in me? Do I invite Him into my life, or do I request to be apart of His much larger plan.

These "space" paintings, as I've kind of coined them for myself, are after something in particular, and that is that they are both representative and literal at the same time; and that is something I enjoy working out in my work and find relevant to my faith. These pieces are addressing space both representationally and literally in the sense that there is somewhat of an illusion of deep space within the frame, and at the same time they draw attention to the actual space that we all inhabit in their abject-hood (the minimal qualities of the pieces that declare space.) I equate this relationship to that of Christ, the logos, who was both fully God and fully man: representative of God and God Himself at the same time.

The horizon line is something that I have been using for some time now, and it has a deal of importance to me. In this piece the line/cutout depicted is vertical. But couldn't it still be a horizon? The earth is not flat after all. But the one thing that might be of the most importance is how there is now, with the hanging cutout strip, a factor of positive and negative space, one thing that, in a sense, creates the other by merely existing (like light and dark,) which brakes the frame in the traditional sense. The line through the middle is mirrored by the hanging piece, and reaches into the beyond. At the same time, and in the back of my mind, the imagery is somewhat reminiscent of a wound and the blood pouring from it, as well as a narrow opening.

(Note: these are rough images, and I would ask that you disregard the paint on the wall beneath the panting. It is not apart of the piece. The piece is not yet titled.)