In a recently drafted artist's statement, James Evans concluded a round up of his aims and concerns by writing that he is "seeking to produce work ... which can give rise to a smile."

The smiles generated by Evans' work are responses to the profound number of references, allusions, and sensations he carefully builds into each piece, smiles of amazement at the 0cross-cultural fluency and sheer economy of his forms.  The works can be enjoyed on a variety of levels, limited only by the viewer's willingness to loosen the strictures of material, artistic, and even social hierarchy. A likely first smile comes from the outgoing sensuality of Evans' glazed ceramic sculptures. Their lurid pink and naughty black skins hug curvaceous contours that beg to be caressed and held at the very least, while some invite multi-limbed embraces or even oral appreciation.  These urgings come in part from the bodily scale of the works, mimicking as they do natural formations.  Evidence of direct hand moulding contributes further to their empathetic aura, a method that seems strategically opposed to the mechanical precision yielded by a potter's wheel.  

Extract from a review "Smiles by the Miles" by Michael Darling for Ripe Exhibition

Photography by © Valerie Bernardini