Phoebe Evans
51 1/8 x 39 3/8 in
These compositions create a unique moment in which the viewer may desire to see and comprehend more, a void filled by their own imagination and personal memories. Within domestic settings, these scenes exist in a state of flux, oscillating between the realms of dreams and wakefulness. Within ‘Replay’ and ‘Perspective’, Evans is drawn to doorways and doors, as they symbolise passages leading to the unknown, generating an innate tension regarding what lies beyond. Left intentionally not fully described or contextualised, they serve as metaphors for the uncharted territories of life's next phase or the symbolic doors that await us.
Evans’ process involves working with oil paint, from rooms and domestic references personal to her.
Evans applies thin layers and uses solvent to remove applied paint, exposing the canvas's inherent luminosity, opposed to adding white pigment. This process mirrors the construction and fluidity of memory, with memories being added or pushed back like paint as time passes. The base layer remains enigmatic, only revealing itself through the added details above. The works are reminiscent of hazy recollections of the past and uncertain visions of the future, leaving space out of context resulting encouraging the viewer to fill with their own ideas and memory. Evans’ creative process is intimately intertwined with a heightened awareness of her surrounding environments, understanding how the spaces we inhabit profoundly influence our emotions and perceptions.
This connection to the surroundings draws inspiration from Gaston Bachelard's "The Poetics of Space," which considers the philosophy of how a space can be filled with meaning and evoke feelings of memory and fantasy. The work explores the mysteries of space but also to contemplates the layers of memory and imagination that shape our perception of the world. Through the intimacies of colour, dream and domestic spaces.