Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Evans.
Matthew, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born and raised in the city of Atlanta, (I’m talking ITP native) and have had a healthy curiosity for creating since I can remember existing. My youth consisted of sculpting my own Pokemon, painting and drawing constantly, filming and editing videos with friends, starting a rap group in 7th grade; I dabbled in a variety of creative pursuits, anything that could feed my need for expression. My passion for art continued through High School and eventually led me to pursue a degree in the arts at Georgia State.
While I was working on my BFA in Drawing and Painting, I started teaching painting classes at a local business Dip n Dab. Towards the end of my time at GSU I began doing freelance illustration and working on murals as part of a small team, at the same time as I began assisting my friend and mentor William Massey with large-scale public sculptures. William pushed me to engage with community and tap into arts therapeutic potential, and with his encouragement I began volunteering twice a week, working as a practitioner of therapy through the arts at both Winship Cancer Center in Midtown and Remerge Atl, a group that works with Atlanta’s homeless population. The experiences working with people in hard times and teaching art to those who had little to no art experience helped to broaden my understanding of how everyone (whether they believe it or not) possess creativity and the ability to create.
After graduating, I continued teaching painting classes, while balancing commissioned paintings and freelance illustrations with creating my own personal work. Eventually, I was able to secure enough commissioned work to quit my job teaching painting classes and jump into the world of working full time as an artist. By trying out all my best and stupidest ideas and developing authentic relationships with others in the art community, I have managed to make a living off putting pigments on substrates.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My work is grounded in representation, with elements of surrealism. I use water-based media, so acrylic, ink, and watercolor are some of my favorites, although I do use other materials as well. I have a deeply experimental approach when it comes to creating as a whole. I utilize contouring black and white lines to describe different forms in a style I call Liquid Zebra. I love the way that the stark contrast of black and white play with the viewer’s eye and how our minds intuitively read between the lines. The intersections of different lines combine to create a very interesting visual phenomenon, but I also think of them as very metaphorical. I see ‘Liquid Zebra’ as an adaptable metaphor for the yin and yang of everything in life. My personal experiences and philosophy have led me to understand a duality that exists in all things. The duality is not, in fact, a simple division where we are one or the other, good or bad, dark or light, but rather that all things are built of both and have many subtle variations landing each of us somewhere unique on an infinite spectrum. When I use ‘Liquid Zebra’ to describe a human form, it is to expose that spectrum of light and dark that exists within our psychology. Without being too didactic, I want to push the viewer to question the connections, complications, and contractions of how we make value judgments in the world.
A few years into working in Liquid Zebra style my friend introduced me to the concept of single unbroken spiraling line drawings. I found that I really enjoyed the meditative process of creating these drawings; starting in the direct center and spiraling outward to form an image that is connected through one unbroken line. I have now been commissioned to do three Utility Boxes in Downtown Atlanta and the Old Fourth Ward. The Utility Boxes each have two single spiraling line portraits of Atlanta Icons on them, including MLK, Killer Mike, John Lewis, Jimmy Carter, Big Boi, and Andre 300. The public artwork and murals I do tend to be less about me personally and more about reflecting or honoring something bigger than me, which is often the city of Atlanta and the people who have come from it. The fact that they exist outside the gallery or someone’s home gives them the ability to reach a much wider audience and connect with the public in a way that my other work does not. I really value that relationship these works have with the people of Atlanta. On that ATL note, I am super stoked on the mural I just finished for The Atlanta Falcons at their training facility in Flowery Branch, as well as the mural I did for my Alma Matter Georgia State Stadium (formerly Turner Field). Doing work for these beloved Atlanta institutions that I’ve grown up supporting has really been an awesome experience and deepened my connection to this city.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
If there’s anything, I want to communicate as an artist in the Instagram era its that we should never feel restricted to the idea of becoming a “brand” or fall victim to meeting the viewer’s expectation of our work. I think as developing artists in this age, there is more and more pressure to think that we need to find our style or a way to brand ourselves without having done the challenging work of searching and experimenting. Artists should keep a mentality that we are students of art and history, and should constantly seek new techniques, knowledge, and ways to improve our creative practice.
Conversely, a major benefit of the Instagram era is that artists no longer need to worry nearly as much about getting our art seen by the right people. If we continually make good work and share it with the world eventually, curators and collectors will notice you and reach out. I think the best advice I’ve ever got, was from an artist named Sam Parker, who simply put, “Don’t stop making work”. I honestly think that is the best advice anyone can give an emerging or established artist.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I am pretty active on Instagram so from the comfort of your phones you can see a chronological showing of my art, but also at my website MatthewEvansArt.com
If you would like to see some of my public artwork I have a large two walled mural depicting the history of Haley’s Comet at The Comet Pub and Lanes in Decatur GA. I also have three Utility Boxes throughout the city. One at MLK and Pyror, one at John Wesley Dobbs and Boulevard, and well as another one on Glen Iris and Ralph McGill.
You can see my mural for the Falcons on their new podcast Falcons Audiblie streaming online, and lastly, you can go to a GSU football game and check out the mural I recently completed at Georgia State Stadium.
You can also simply support my work by reaching out or commenting on something you like, which really goes a long way. I regularly accept a large variety of commissioned work and am accommodating of all price points.
Contact Info:
- Website: MatthewEvansArt.com
- Phone: 4042907027
- Email: mattevansatl@gmail.com
- Instagram: mevansATL92
Image Credit:
All images are original images taken by the artist Matthew Evans.
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