Leah Evans – Blossoms in the Suburbs
Leah Evans – Blossoms in the Suburbs
Opening Reception: April 15, 7pm – 9pm
Leah Evans – Blossoms in the Suburbs
My paintings often reference photographs that I take myself or which I borrow from family albums, the latter being the case with my recent series, Gone Creatures (2022). With these paintings I attempt to play with the quality of space that exists between memory and pictorial representation, questioning the value and legitimacy of both in relation to one another. The work presents a reflection on a child’s interpretation of their surroundings, with the near omnipotence of parental figures and threatening creatures acting to underscore the uncertainties of childhood and its distresses and fears.
Currently, I am exploring femininity, branching off from my personal experience as a young woman. Topics such as ‘female rage’ and women’s mental health are concerns of my work that reference a broad scope of experience, including sources from real life as well as media and literature. In my painting, Shower (2023), I depict two female figures showering and menstruating, and question the history of representing women in art and the viewers’ voyeuristic gaze. This painting conveys for me a feeling of inner turmoil. Could womanhood be considered as the death of childhood? The work I am presenting at Casa references snapshots of my childhood home street found on Google Earth – paintings that I am currently creating.These pictorial representations from memory are threatened by the orange ‘nuclear’ sky, – capturing a moment before the inescapable desecration to both the alluded child and the safety of their familiar surroundings.
Leah Evans is an emerging artist based in Lethbridge Alberta. She grew up in small towns across Alberta, with most of her early childhood spent in Rimbey and later years primarily in Drayton Valley. The aesthetics of these environments play a role in her paintings that focus on memory and early childhood experience. Currently, Leah is working towards a BFA in Art at the University of Lethbridge. She is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the Roloff Beny Foundation Award in Photographic Art and the Gushul Studio Artist Residency Prize.
Date:April 15th, 2023 - June 3rd, 2023
Location:Casa - Platform
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