Eva Collins | Crow

24 May – 15 June 2019

‘As a writer and photographer I like to capture stirring images with camera and pen. These are often fleeting moments which leave no trace and yet they create a sense of wonder and loss. Photography freezes these scenes and gives us an opportunity to further understand our experiences and acknowledge their powerful impact.

When I write I must interpret experiences into a set of literate codes to communicate the ideas. However, when I shoot photos, I am in a non-verbal mode, experiencing and reacting to stimuli in a direct way. Less is lost along the way.

Curiosity drives my practice as I am drawn to unexpected, quirky scenes of contrast or discord because they evoke excitement and a sense of discovery. Often the subjects that arouse this sense of wonder are oblivious to the potent effect they exert on us. I like to draw attention to matters that often go unnoticed.

In my video work I try to distil the essence of experience that I am investigating at the time.

Glimpsing these themes is like finding gems in the most unlikely places.’

– Eva Collins

HOWL

Howl references mime and sound effects which convey primal expressions of fear and mystery. Its interpretation is open ended, but the artist’s intention is to portray a naïve, vulnerable woman taunted for her weird appearance who finds power to overcome that fear in the face of a threat.

CROW

To a young girl, the height of the housing estate towers resembles mountains offering shelter from wind and the multitude of windows suggests the many families living there. She imagines that if she also lived there, she would have many children as friends to play with, feel safe and have a sense of belonging. These unresolved early longings often persist into adult life.

The work explores the desire to belong, which can become so intense that the character takes extreme measures to find a way of entering a community.