Jamie Evans, a young, up-and-coming artist from England will have his solo exhibition at Stolenspace Gallery in London next month. During his preparations, we had a little moment to discuss what his show is all about. “Something Different, Something New”, is a diversion or an attempt of escapism to the dystopian future that is certain but yet to happen. He attempts to make a relevant body of work with an intention of catching a small dose of fresh air from the grievances which discusses nothing but ubiquitous disputes and distasteful travesties.

Jamie, being aware of today’s predicaments, hopes that through his art he will be able to contribute “Something Different, Something New” to anyone that is looking to have a moment of political break and is in need of a waft of positivity. Jamie Evans’ work is fresh, genuine and innocent. Take a short moment to disconnect from what is becoming a bland theme in your feed and read this interview.

Interview by Mark Changco.
Art by Jamie Evans.

In a recent interview from Stolenspace Gallery, you’ve discussed, “Something different, Something New”, that it refers to the times in which we live in. Would you care give us an example piece(s) and the specific topics it discuss?

The title “Something Different, Something New” refers not specifically to an individual artwork I shall be exhibiting, but to the overall conversation I wish to initiate. It is becoming increasingly obvious, even to those who make an effort to avoid political issues and current events, that the framework of the system we’re born into isn’t equipped to deal with the issues we face as humans, it is in a state of disrepair and has led us to this unfavorable predicament. It has come so far that we cannot hope to change things in a positive way if we look only at what already exists, we must find something different, something entirely new. My paintings are physical sources of positive energy, portals of positivity which allow me to temporarily stop thinking about what “Something Different, Something New” could be.

It really pains me that our world is in such a bad state, literally not a single day goes by that I do not ponder our predicament and how we may get ourselves out of it; during the act of creation I am able to disconnect temporarily from the forced situation we find ourselves in and focus only on creating something which gives me a window to something else. It is definitely a form of escapism, but I do not wish to only help people escape. I like it when people are positively affected by my work, it is fascinating to me that one can create something which gives others such immense satisfaction. There is still so much that humans have to learn.

I am still deep in the creative process on the body of work I shall be showing in ‘Something Different, Something New’, and the titles of the works most often come after I have finished the piece, so I cannot comment just yet on a work I shall be exhibiting. But for example, take the piece ‘Overthrowing The Old Order’, this is a painting I made for my independent solo show last year, which is now in a private collection. The visual elements present in that particular piece are in no way overtly political, but by having the title ‘Overthrowing The Old Order’, this leads one to ponder such things when you look at it. And when you do stand in front of it considering what a title could mean in relation to such an artwork, important conversations are started inside the mind. I like that. I like that you can do this through the creation and exhibiting of an artwork, being an artist allows you to start conversations in very unorthodox ways. The work shown in ‘Something Different, Something New’ will hopefully start some much needed conversations.

The color yellow seems to dominate in most of your works. What’s your fascination behind it?

Yellow to me is the color of happiness. It is a joyful color, the color which I derive the most satisfaction from looking at. I have a painting I made years ago called ‘Yellow Is A Happy Place’, and it really is. I have pondered why this is so, and there is no clear reason, it is a kin to attempting to describe a psychedelic feeling; perhaps I am so attracted to yellow because of fond memories of rapeseed fields on the way to the beach when I was a child. The area I’m from in Northumberland has quite a lot of these fields dotted around, and if you stand and gaze upon a rapeseed field blowing in the wind it is like an immensely bright – but calm, lemony yellow sea. The power of yellow is ineffable, it is like trying to describe the feeling of unconditional love.

Not all yellows have such positive qualities for me though, Aureolin is quite a strange yellow. I like cadmium yellow, this is the color I usually start my paintings with. Even if it doesn’t end up having yellow in it (quite unlikely!) it has most certainly had yellow on somewhere at some point. My overall aim in the world as a human, not just an artist, is to create more positivity.. and it just happens that the means for me to do this is through creating art. Yellow is the color with the most positive energy within it, so it lends itself well to my purposes.

Describe your thought-process for this show. Is there anything new compared to your previous ones?

My thought process for this show has had to be very organized and timely. I was offered this solo exhibition off the back of the last exhibition I was involved with, No Commission: London. That was during December 2016, so I have had a very busy time preparing for this show. It has been very fast paced, I have been a lot more organized for this show than my last solo exhibition. I am learning more and more as to what it is to be an artist.

My last show came about by a process of gathering work at the pace at which it came, over a period of about 5-6 months. I didn’t have a deadline to work towards, I was just in the studio living life. Whereas this time round because of time constraints and deadlines, I have had to slightly adapt my previous way of working and up the pace slightly. It is interesting to explore your own individual way of working, as there is no concrete formula or criteria to follow to ‘be an artist’. You just need to get the job done. I am lucky enough to already be able to be a full-time artist at the age of 24, so I spend everyday in my studio. Because of this, I am able to ensure that I maintain the level of quality I desire for my work, I am a big believer in quality over quantity. I feel truly blessed to be in the position that I am in. I know so many people who desire to be able to be in the studio full time but who cannot be, so I ensure that I make the most of what I have. I’m super appreciative of what I have.

What will be your favorite piece in this show? Why?

I think my favorite piece in this show is going to be the one sitting behind me in the photo I have on the StolenSpace interview, as of yet it remains untitled, but it will certainly have one when it is exhibited. It is always the case that out of the body of work I make, a few of the paintings have a certain energy about them which I find hard to describe… but this energy makes them stand out for some reason. Ironically, it is most often the case that the works which cause me to develop such a feeling about them end up being the ones which sell best. The ones I develop an attachment to are nine times out of ten the ones I must part with… not saying that I am not attached to every single piece of work I make, because I am… but certain ones are definitely more noticeable by their absence.

But at the same time, it is a nice feeling too, because the person seeing the painting who feels so strongly about it that they are willing to purchase it, must also be seeing what I see in it. It is a very magical thing. I love what I do.