Libby Evan – SAIC Graduate Exhibition 2024

SAIC SHOWS 2024 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Graduates

SAIC SHOWS 2024 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Libby Evan

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Fiber and Material Studies

Graduate Exhibition Two

libbyzevan@gmail.com

Libby Evan is a multimedia artist focused on soft sculpture and disability. She is from Albany, NY. Evan is currently an MFA student in the Fiber and Material Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with an expected graduation date of May 2024. In 2020, she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in studio art from Washington University in St. Louis, The Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts. Her practice breaks down the facade of being okay on the outside but no so much on the inside. Previous exhibitions include a pop-up exhibition at CAM St. Louis, The Full Light of Day at VAE in Raleigh, Art St Louis’ Varsity Art XXIV, and Connected: VSA Emerging Young Artists Exhibition. In 2019, she was awarded an Award of Excellence for emerging young artists with disabilities at the Kennedy Center. In 2021, Evan was featured in Home Sick, an international juried exhibition in Poughkeepsie where she was awarded second prize.

Libby Evan - Display Case

Display Case, Mixed media, 69 x 104 x 10 in., 2023

Image Description: Behind plexiglass-glass is a three dimensional collage that includes prints on fabric, drawings, on paper, and a soft sculpture sale size that advertises a traumatizing experience. The drawings are loose sketches of foam fingers that replace traditionally positive phrases with negative, automatic thoughts such as “crippled” and “full of shit.”

Libby Evan - Pineapple

Pineapple, Spandex, fabric ,vinyl, poly-fil, batting, cardboard, and hot glue, 84 x 64 in., 2023, photo by Rivers Zhu

Image Description: A woman lays underneath a seven foot tall soft sculpture Pineapple arch. She lays among turquoise spandex aquarium-like rocks.

Libby Evan - Sale Sign

Sale Sign, Latex coated fabric, hand-sewn sequin patches, and batting, 42 x 33 x 5 in., photo by Chelsea Bighorn

Image Description: On a very shiny surface, sequin patches form letters and numbers to read “Sale $19.95 for a traumatizing experience* *therapy, fish food, and plant burial not included.” The object in the image is drooping as the weight of its interior batting causes it to sag.

Libby Evan - Are You Seriously Serious? (pillow pile)

Are You Seriously Serious? (pillow pile), Mixed fabrics, poly-fil, and puffy screen print, dimensions vary, 2023, photo by Chelsea Bighorn

Image Description: A woman wearing shiny, pink boots lays in a pile of bright and cartoon-like pillows that have phrases on them. Phrases include "it is what it is," "it's fine you're fine we're fine", "are you seriously serious?", "unwell as hell", and "I am not your learning opportunity." Hanging on the wall next to the pillow pile is a large, sloppy screen print on black fabric that says “I am not your learning opportunity.”

Libby Evan - Are You Seriously Serious? (pillow pile) detail

Are You Seriously Serious? (pillow pile) detail, Mixed fabrics, poly-fil, and puffy screen print, dimensions vary, 2023, photo by Chelsea Bighorn

Image Description: A zoomed in image of a pile of pillows that mostly have neon green fabric backing them. The pillows are made of various materials including smooth latex, glossy spandex, soft velvet, and other synthetic materials.

Artist Statement:
I am stuffed with poly-fil– held together with sloppy stitches. Often, slanted, bold text runs over me shouting at viewers in a soft material that cushions any blows. At first, I am funny and fast and then something else underneath lingers. Maybe there is more to this quick wit afterall.

My soft sculpture world encapsulates all my triumphs, frustrations, absurdities, and strange moments of joy. The sculptures lean because I lean. They are oddly feminine, lumpy, and disabling– yet huggable. My seven foot tall Pineapple is an ode to temporality. It started out as a monument to my dead pet fish who was crushed under a plastic pineapple in his tank. But now, it is a reflection of my disabled body. Like my sculptures, I defy gravity with sheer force of will until I give in and revert to a pile of poly-fil.

In moments of strife exist the greatest potential for joy and humor. My work and I reside permanently on the thin lines between joy and sadness and humor and anger. My disabled body guides my work as I discover time and time again that the most personal is the most universal.