sharing the adventure of visual arts
EAST GIPPSLAND ART GALLERY
Mathew Evans
Australian Annihilation
08 September - 14 October 2023
Special opening event 5.30pm Friday 08 September | All welcome FREE
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Mathew Evans is a Lakes Entrance born artist who has been obsessed with colour and nature his whole life. As a child, Mathew would anger the owner of the local paint shop for popping in each weekend to gather an impolite amount of complimentary paint swatches for his collection to store in a shoebox for regular perusal. Now nearly 40, he is essentially still just as obsessed with colour as he was then. Owning and running a successful salon in Lakes Entrance he paints hair by day, and canvas by night.
Australian Annihilation is a series of abstract and figurative paintings curated to tell a truly Australian story. During the Australian wildfires of 2020, a single wing fell from the sky with flickering embers and landed onto the lawn. Though partially charred and discoloured, without a doubt, this wing once belonged to a male Eastern Rosella. But now it didn’t. It belonged back to the Earth.
Above: Mathew Evans, Gymnorhina, Oil on linen
The loss of an estimated 3 billion animal lives in the fires weighed heavily on Mathew. Still years later, the bush is nearly silent compared to the orchestra of song that you’re normally greeted with.
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Painting and drawing is a vehicle for Mathew to explore his present day world and find peace with his place in it. Reflecting on past experiences and histories that connect him to the now. Always searching for meaning and and hiding meaning in artworks.
The familiarity that Australians have with the plumage of our native bird life is so unique and distinctive. This series was conceptualised with the idea of being able to identify a bird without necessarily SEEING a bird. But their colour and energy alone on a two dimensional surface would be enough for nature lovers to know what they were looking… And what was looking back at them. Mathew wanted to dedicate his series to these creatures and celebrate their beautiful appearance and the stunning personalities they boast.
