Associate Q&As with Rhiannon Evans

Introduction

I live in North Oxfordshire and I came to artistic practice late and almost by accident. My professional background is in botanical science and I developed my interest in making art when unable to follow my previous passion, cyclesport, because of family and work commitments. I started drawing and painting for a couple of hours a week on a beginners course at a local Arts Centre (with a creche)  and found that it gave me something of the same buzz! Having an artistic practice is still something of a surprise to me and not something I had ever thought possible. Though tracking back I realise that drawing was very much part of science education in the 70’s.

My work has several strands. My ‘live work’ has a level of social engagement and a participative aspect.  This often based on chance and the resulting conversations and coincidences that occur most often public encounters rather working with than a dedicated art audience. I love the spontaneity, unexpected and the underlying depth of inter-textual action, agency and affect which break through in loosely directed ‘ daftness’ and playful situations. There are of course direct references to Dada, Fluxus and Happenings in this ‘live work’.

I think that at the core of my practice is an on-going investigation of archival narratives through embodied experience. I have also explored ways of making external physical documentation including small sculptural objects, photographs, video/ live- stream, drawing, pastel paintings and auto-ethnographic narrative in a more material practice. I’m interested how these forms act in the network of social relations, space and time. The role of technology in archival processes and our human relationships with these also fascinates me, from myth creation, storytelling and ritual and performative actions through to digital memory located in both hardware and software.

What are you currently working on?

I recently had an exhibition, Re-FORMat CouCou Studios, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, at the end of my  extended residency there. Some of the collage and video work in the exhibition came out of printed works on paper made into sculptural objects  I made for a group exhibition Home Books ( also at CouCou) in May 2021.

I still have unfinished works from this period which I would like to continue developing and ‘finishing’ off. This is unusual for me but I feel that working deeply into this more material practice ( painting , 3D Collage sculpture and video) may  consolidate some skills and thoughts before I move on.

I’ve also been ‘clearing out my studio’ in recent weeks, and started playing randomly with the old sculptural materials ( plaster and clay) and past work from many years ago that I keep trying  to ditch...but always held on to... Who knows where it will lead....

Where do you work? Do you have studio space?

I have a garden shed at home where I can work if I make room! Much of my past ‘ live’ work is stored in carrier bags here so working space is at a premium but it is a good place to retreat to and focus.

The essential tidying , as with many people,  is always a precursor to making for me. There’s also an old sofa to lie down on and dream..... 

My performative / live work has meant using the location as a making ‘ studio’ space and work often  develops from a objects already in my home, squirrelled away in the shed in the shed or found in the rural or urban landscape. Working in other place with local people or other artists and responding to location, time of making and associated personal memory, heritage and history influence the work  I make.

What are your other (work) commitments if any?

I’ve been a practising Medical Herbalist for over 30 years. Initially in my art practice I consciously kept the botanical / science aspects of my professional background seperate from my art practice – though occasionally they broke through! More recently I have been deliberately bringing the practices together.

I was lucky enough to be one of four artists selected for the OVADA Summer Collaborative Science Residency in 2019  which was a pivot point in changing the balance. Following the OVADA residency I started the Dwell Residency  with CouCouCurates and that quiet, solitary rural space was also key in developing work with botanical/ anatomical  sources.

I’ve also worked as a freelance community artist facilitating workshops, primarily but not exclusively with older people in care and wellbeing settings, galleries and museums. 

How does your associate membership benefit you?

I see my Associate membership as helping to contribute to all that OVADA offers for myself and other artists in the area. Over the years I’ve benefitted from a wide range of experiences. I have enjoyed various classes and workshops in drawing, photography and digital skills, all with an experimental focus.The ‘bounce ‘ off effect and sheer fun of these has been glorious.

I’ve also visited many of the varied exhibitions until recent restrictions especially those in tandem with other organisations in Oxford such as and OCM gigs, Audiograft etc and the Open exhibitions. I especially enjoy the breadth of artists’ work shown, from student and emerging artists to more established  and familiar names and the feeling of being part of a wider local artist community with diverse practices.

The location of the OVADA space is important to me as it is centrally located and close to the railway station which mean its easy to access and travel back from even in eveningsas I don’t live in Oxford. Practical  considerations are really  imporatnt , I feel, in making decisions about what to engage with ...

During Lockdown the Zoom sessions with artist interviews were stimulating and became an essential as part of my routine, helping me feel connected to other with similar concerns.

The residency that I enjoyed meant a great deal aespecially as working with other artists in a dedicated space over a few weeks was such a treat! A first for me! I was always a part time student throughout my studies and this was the first time I’d had a dedicated work space in a studio shared with other artists. Just Brilliant!

What are you hoping to achieve over the next year?

I rarely set specific goals. Maybe it would be an achievement to set some....

To use some metaphors, I’ve been working on restorative consolidation through some vigorous pruning over the winter. I’m hoping for  signs of new growth  by late spring hopefully some flowering late in the summer... My focus will be on making material rather than live work, or so I feel at the moment.

My rather general aim would be to try to see and clarify connections between all the sometimes disparate elements of my practice – the new ideas and the  existing themes then  bring them together possibly make them more explicit. I feel I can only do this by seemingly aimless making .

My  work’s archival focus has had a tendency to highlight reflection rather than projection. I’d like to hold as fast as possible to a course which explores future possibilites routed in re-imagining and re-forming personal and collective histories . This means taking an overdue leap forwards into an uncertain future through more material making... But don’t quote me on that next year!

Tell us a little bit about the work of an artist or arts organisation/ collective that you find inspiring

There are 3 arts organisations, in particular, that have inspired and supported me :

1.The House of Fairy  Tales  was a national children’s arts charity who provide ’ imaginative spaces to enable creating happy families, healthier communities and a thriving society.’ Deborah Curtis is Creative Director. I was involved with the team at events from 2011-13 and their openness, warmth and commitment had a huge influence on the way I worked in the future with community groups.

They have now morphed into The Great Imagining inviting others to  imagine a greener, fairer, wiser future

2.The New Art Gallery Walsall  I discovered this gallery whilst running a workshop with the  House of Fairy Tales  and then was fortunate to be able to work with Learning and Collections Teams over recent years. Their friendliness, inclusivity, variety and standard of their permanent collection, exhibitions and workshops is astounding. Visit when you can.

3. Nordland Academy of Arts and Sciences in Melbu, North Norway works with projects situated on the threshold between art and science, entertainment and enlightenment. In 2016 as part of my MA from Camberwell I was awarded a residency opportunity here with artist collective  LiveDigitalDesign/ArtistDevelopers. Their approach to community, culture and the environmental challenges they face is truly inspirational. 

Describe the last time you felt inspired

This installation ‘innovation – multiplication – transformation’ by Jonathan  Kearney in St Martin in the Fields church , Trafalgar Square, London responded to the climate crisis and COP26. 

The installation used prints, plants, projections and augmented reality within the church to suggest a hopeful future.

This positivity helped me to fully recognise and then dispel some of the anger and despair I feel regarding the predicable damage caused by climate change and reignited a sense of agency that art contributes to world action. 

Jonathan was my MA Fine Art Digital tutor at Camberwell and is a true  inspiration himself because of his kindness and commitment to supportive tuition. 

Thank you, Jonathan.

What is your opinion of the current art scene in Oxford?

I feel the visual arts scene in Oxford is thriving with such a wide variety of workshops, classes, exhibition venues and studios in Oxford and the surrounding towns. The academic inputs help support the diversity of practises and research spin-offs these provide means there are so many opportunities for participation for all artists, from experimental work to traditional skills. There are strong creative focuses across Oxford in all the local communities to my knowledge. However, I sometimes feel that the Oxford’s (wonderful!) cultural heritage and its position in British and global academia and society may unconsciously lead to some creative restrictions.

In Oxford, a geographically small city, the cultural capital in some sections of its population may overwhelm  and form boundaries to imaginative thought. Artists who can afford to study, live and work in Oxford may tend to be less diverse than those in other cities around the UK and may choose to study here because of the characteristics of the city.

I’m not denigrating what Oxford offers at all, on the contrary, just comparing it with other areas of the country – though I appreciate my experience of these is rather limited…

 As a ‘ Northerner’ by birth, I still rarely travel further than the Midlands to see new work and when I do visit London, looking at small local studios can be time consuming when there are such temptations within the City. I feel that making truly radical and innovative work comes from forming wider networks of greater diversity and mixing with those who have practices and thinking very different from our own. The challenge of discomfort feeds new concepts and possibilities.

Oxford as a city of global fame can sometimes feel to me to have a parochial and insular attitude to art practice despite having a temporary and resident population from across the world and global professional links. I feel it would benefit from some mixing it with relatively nearby but very different towns and cities such as Milton Keynes, Swindon and   Reading or maybe even further afield within the UK 

How do you feel the arts benefit society?

By encouraging agency and freedom they can give voice to express opinion and effect change in personal lives and local and global communities. They can also provide comfort, sustain and nourish where other resources may be lacking.

For anyone who feels restricted by circumstance in any way, regardless of background or status or age, the act of making is one of freedom where the only rules that apply can be those we create ourselves.. The arts encourage imagining, thinking differently, wonderment and possibilities…  both for the makers and the participants or viewers.

They encourage depth of feeling along with the knowledge that you are not alone… others may think and feel as you do .Or  maybe they think very differently but that challenge and difference are productive not a threat. They can provoke reflection and action and so empower people to effect change in their own lives and the lives of others.

Social Media :

Website:

https://vectorcatalyst.wordpress.com

MA research practice blog:

https://movingarchives.wordpress.com

Intagram: @sangrownun

Twitter:@sangrownun

Rhiannon Evans, January 2022

Join us at 11am on Friday 18th March for Rhiannon's live OAFA In Conversation. Email engagement@ovada.org.uk to book.