Statement:

I am an interdisciplinary artist currently working and residing in Brooklyn, New York. I was born and raised in rural Idaho and my childhood informs my work. A main component of my practice is collecting objects from the streets, vintage stores and thrift stores that resonate with my past. Using those objects as materials to create sculptures, fiber pieces, and as visual language in my paintings, my work explores the relationships between gender, class, sexuality and the psychological effects of growing up queer in America. I am interested in the ways in which culture shapes our self-understanding through materials and objects, and I often utilize decorative motifs to subvert stereotypes and ask deeper questions about our own gender narratives.  My work exists within liminal space where things come together that are diametrically opposed, exemplary of the queer experience.

My interest in identity and self-reclamation has gone on to inspire my work as a tattoo artist, working primarily with the queer community in Brooklyn.  I co-own Yarrow Studio, a private tattoo studio located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Recent work involves using American vintage floral designs and reimagining them into tattoo designs. Through this act, the queer body is transformed and becomes a home for these otherwise conservative motifs, a symbol of reclaiming the body, as well as reclaiming histories of oppression.  The metaphor of our bodies as our homes is a continual theme in my work, explored through various mediums.

Working closely with these fabrics, the idea of magnification inspired my current body of paintings. Using a small viewfinder, I find compositions within the fabrics, and enlarge them to various size abstract paintings. Through distortion, enlargement, visual and spatial immersion, a new experience with a familiar motif arises, making space for contemplation and revelation. I’m interested in creating a physical and emotional experience that connotes nostalgia void of context.

News

Evan was recently an Artist Fellow at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art and participated in the 2020 edition of SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York City