Artist Mark Evans produces remarkably realistic murals of varying subjects by carving into enormous pieces of leather. The Welsh artist’s large-scale “paintings” are each meticulously hand-etched with his collection of knives, which happens to include anything from a pocket knife given to him by his grandfather at the age of 7 to an Egyptian Neolithic flint knife (approximated to be from around 5000 BC). Evans is admittedly an artist who is not gifted at painting with brushes, but rather a skilled knife wielder with an artistic vision.
The artist’s medium of choice, though an unusual one that leaves a lot of room for error, has proven to be the right match. Evans imports the animal hides from around the world to produce his labor-intensive pieces, each taking months to complete. He carves at the material to reveal different shades of the tanned leather and expose its suede finish. Each incision that Evans makes is a crucial laceration that can’t be undone. His creative task is a time-consuming effort that produces astonishing results. The artist’s work, heavily saturated with images of skulls and currency, reflect his own experiences, having grown up around much death, and comment on the adverse effects of greed.
