An Artist’s Statement

by

“Bud” E. Lewis Evans

M.A . (Studio Art)

The product of an artist’s life demands notice, just as an author’s stories beg to be told. That is the nature of all storytellers. I try to draw upon each of those mediums of communications equally for both expression and inspiration. I believe that art is both feeling and knowing; it is part history and prophecy; it is both legacy and change. Likewise, an artist’s spirit is similar in nature to the human eye which can see all things, but cannot behold itself -- except in its own reflection. Thus books are written; stories are told; sculpture and painting abound to chronicle the artist’s journeys within and to share his reflections with those who will not or cannot traversed their own inner mindscapes.

While it is often said that necessity is the mother of invention, perhaps it is a similar hunger in the human soul, and in its need to know itself, that is the genesis of both language and art. Perhaps it is through this lens called imagination that we see, re-invent and reinterpret reality; where we create worlds filled with infinite possibilities and lives unbound from mediocrity. Our evolving appetites for new sensory and intellectual perspectives are reflected in our unquenchable desire to ruthlessly deconstruct ourselves. We do this in order to become something greater than what we fear we really are. Correspondingly, great art results from the most self-conscious acts of re-examining and re-setting the parameters of our perceptions.

I believe that an artist is supposed to be, by both nature and design, especially equipped to thrust his consciousness into the very fabric of his being. He must be free to labor and to give birth to the amalgam of his heart and intellect -- with no need to justify it and without ever having to reason why. Art is what defines him; it is who he is, not just what he does.

While my approach to art is sometimes both private and political, it would be disingenuous of me to pretend that my art is not frequently guided by a very personal brand of philosophy born out of a desire for aesthetic altruism. Like many of my fellow artists, I do hope some aspects of my work may serve as a mirror for others by which to look inwardly upon themselves and, perhaps, find fragments of their own individuality reflectively integrated in my work. That would justify, to me, that my work is more than simply a transient metaphor for “entertainment”.

Art in its myriad incarnate forms can be the purest expressions of love between its creator and his audience. My work is founded on that premise. It is my primary motivation. If I did not fear starvation, I would probably give away my work to everyone as freely as I share my thoughts. But, from a personal perspective, the experience of sharing one’s art work with others is the ultimate disrobement; as pure and as idealistic as virginal sex. It is to reveal one’s inner nakedness and to throw one’s surreptitious life upon the altar of public scrutiny.

Art is born sometimes with the gentle splash a bucket of dreams makes upon canvas or paper; often it is a shriek pulled screaming into three dimensional reality encased in fiery metal or molten stone. To share one’s visions is at times both a terror and a rare reward for an artist. And regardless of the particulars of the lives and/or lifestyles of those who may view it; regardless of the relative aesthetics or material appeal my art may or may not provoke - I can honestly say, for what it is worth, my art has at least emotionally enriched me in the doing, and, perhaps, may inspired some future artist or author, or at the very least, some dreamer who will continue the cycle.