We have seen a lot of different medias being used to create artworks, but from time to time, an artist appear with something really fresh and impressive. Mark Evans is a really talented artist that use knifes and other sharp tools to create some really outstanding artworks on big pieces of leather. Mark Evans is not the kind of artist who hides in his art. In fact quite the contrary: his art is in hides. His meticulously created etchings, which he refers to as “carvings in leather”, are proving to be much sought after by the rich and famous, worldwide. He combines the mind and eye of the artist with the hands of a surgeon and the knowledge of a leather tanner to produce his stunning works of art. These pictures are etched into sheets of leather with his blades scoring little more than a tenth of a millimetre into the hide.
This “micro sculpture”, as he terms it, reveals the nap beneath the surface. But how did this 35 year old Welshman come to discover this unique medium and his own ability to work with it? From being a boy Mark had been interested in being a portrait artist. At the time, he chose the more conventional techniques – charcoal, oil, acrylics, etc. However there were two moments in his life where fate would signpost the way to his chosen medium, and both involved, in one way or another, his grandparents.
He grew up on a farm in the mountains of north Wales and it was here that the first “moment” occurred, at the age of seven, when his grandfather bought him a penknife. He says that he spent his boyhood carving wood and bark, little realising that “that small gift would form such a fundamental part of my destiny.”
His second moment occurred some years later, in his grandmother’s kitchen, in 1999. “At a Christmas lunch some spots of blood ended up on a new leather jacket. In an attempt to fix it, I got out my art materials and palette knife to try and clean it up. But instead I scratched too hard and etched right into the surface.
I went from thinking the jacket was ruined to seeing endless opportunities. I started to experiment and created a two-tone rendering of Jimi Hendrix on the back of the jacket.” (telegraph.co.uk). “I then spent the next few years locked away in my studio living as part artist & part mad-scientist – trying to perfect the technique I’d discovered.” The images, from the techniques he has perfected, are truly stunning. He sources the leathers from around the world, working with special waxes, dozens of different types of knives and scalpels.
It takes incredible patience and immense attention to detail. Each piece can take many months to create, but at a price of up to £250,000 it would appear to be time well spent. Mark is now the Creative Director of the Art Cartel, which was launched in 2007.
Its’ aim being: to create a business that would offer, to clients worldwide, a service to create unique leather furnishings and architectural features. “I think the role of an artist, whatever medium they work in, is to be a voice, someone who speaks the truth, inspires, confronts or distils life to clarify it.” To see more of Mark’s work or to get in touch with him, we invite you to visit his website at the link below the pictures that we 5elect here for you.
