NCM Participant Profile July 15: Alex Evans
1 Aug 2015
Alex Evans' artworks are a collection of intricately hand drawn cities composed of geometric shapes and complex patterns, which manipulate established traditions of mathematical space. They depict hybrid architectural biological systems and networks of the imagined city deploying an illusory sense of scale and an unreal interplay between dimensions.
Researching both realised and theoretical propositions within architecture and urban planning practice, Evans' work explores a confluence of ideas between historically imagined future cities and ancient geometric reason and mathematic principle.
The cities he imagines and brings to life in drawings exist neither in the past nor the future. They are not solutions to an urban problem and are certainly not liveable places.
In the act of drawing, there is an inherent need to describe a better place, to engender a pen on paper Utopia, but within the meticulous order there may be an unwitting dystopian fantasy where the excesses of the city push against the mathematics of nature beyond human scale.
What impact has New Creative Markets had on you?
New Creative Markets has allowed me the time and space to focus on aspects of my career which have traditionally been the easiest to ignore and neglect. It has encouraged me to take more risks in the everyday management of my practice but it has also been a really enjoyable and rewarding process along the way. I've met some brilliant artists and designers, had some very useful 1 to 1's and been a part of lots of interesting workshops, all of which have helped me feel more confident and resilient when navigating the day to day grind of being an artist.
What impact has New Creative Markets had on you?
New Creative Markets has allowed me the time and space to focus on aspects of my career which have traditionally been the easiest to ignore and neglect. It has encouraged me to take more risks in the everyday management of my practice but it has also been a really enjoyable and rewarding process along the way. I've met some brilliant artists and designers, had some very useful 1 to 1's and been a part of lots of interesting workshops, all of which have helped me feel more confident and resilient when navigating the day to day grind of being an artist.
Which aspects of the programme do you see yourself implementing?
Fundamental to my learning from all the seminars, workshops and individual meetings has been the need to set clear and definable goals. Before I started the programme I would say that I was both over ambitious yet also lacking the clarity needed in order to progress in a way in which I felt comfortable and in control. Through NCM I have started to establish clearer goals and relationships through which these can be achieved. I've started to see my work as a collaborative effort - as something that others can and will chose to be invested in. Its really been an exercise in believing that my work has a value and a market and that I am in control of establishing myself within suitable contexts, in order to achieve my goals.
What is the most useful thing you have learnt on the programme?
I would say the most useful thing I have learnt within the programme is the value of networks specifically with other artists and makers of all disciplines. Prior to my inclusion in this scheme I would say I was a solitary obsessive, working away in isolation of a wider context. Through NCM I feel much more supported and encouraged, able to see a landscape around me where I potentially can fit in, or stand out. I feel a greater sense of pride in my work and feel more confident to speak freely about who I am as an artist and what my work is about. NCM has also encouraged me to widen my sense of myself as a business and as an investment, which has been a huge turning point for me. Now I feel more able to separate what I do in the studio and who I am outside of that experience and communicate that to others in a way which feels honest and comfortable.
Fundamental to my learning from all the seminars, workshops and individual meetings has been the need to set clear and definable goals. Before I started the programme I would say that I was both over ambitious yet also lacking the clarity needed in order to progress in a way in which I felt comfortable and in control. Through NCM I have started to establish clearer goals and relationships through which these can be achieved. I've started to see my work as a collaborative effort - as something that others can and will chose to be invested in. Its really been an exercise in believing that my work has a value and a market and that I am in control of establishing myself within suitable contexts, in order to achieve my goals.
What is the most useful thing you have learnt on the programme?
I would say the most useful thing I have learnt within the programme is the value of networks specifically with other artists and makers of all disciplines. Prior to my inclusion in this scheme I would say I was a solitary obsessive, working away in isolation of a wider context. Through NCM I feel much more supported and encouraged, able to see a landscape around me where I potentially can fit in, or stand out. I feel a greater sense of pride in my work and feel more confident to speak freely about who I am as an artist and what my work is about. NCM has also encouraged me to widen my sense of myself as a business and as an investment, which has been a huge turning point for me. Now I feel more able to separate what I do in the studio and who I am outside of that experience and communicate that to others in a way which feels honest and comfortable.
Many thanks to Alex for taking part in this interview.
