megan evans Visual Artist
ART BULLIES
A video that tells the story of the OPDU and the Artworkers Union commitment to the rights of artists in the 1980's and their fight with Jeff Kennet who called them Art Bullies for introducing the Percent for Art Scheme in Melbourne Australia. The work was commissioned for an exhibition titled State of the Union curated by Jacqueline Doherty
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE WHITE
This video examines what it takes to understand Whiteness and White Privilege. Participants in the video wore a cloak made of white rabbit fur that referenced the south eastern Aboriginal tradition of making possum skin cloaks and decorating them. This cloak works as a metaphor for the comfort of whiteness and has some of the privileges that white people experience burned onto the skin of the cloak
Passing
Passing is a visual song from the heart that expresses loss, grief and hope in equal measure. Using the Koi as a messenger is a way to allude to the complexities inherent in the problem of the impact of our species on the planet. Koi are a beautiful Japanese fish related to the gold fish and also to carp. Carp are a pest in Australian rivers, foraging in the mud at the bottom of the river and disturbing the water quality on which much of our native fish rely, causing the decline of native species and therefore a break in the chain of healthy rivers.
Soundtrack - Fanfare in Funereal D by composer Biddy Connor
Slow Dance
Slow Dance is a 26 minute video artwork that is part of a bigger work called The Bee Project. It has a companion piece which is an installation of 37 hanging hand blown glass drips filled with 37 varieties of honey. It was shown as a part of the exhibition TO bee which explores the honey bee as a metaphor for social transformation.
After the Fall
After the Fall is a 6 minute animation as a part of a suite of work titled The Fall whuch included a 5 x 3 metre installation of eucalyptus leaves. It was an ode to the environment after the Black Saturday bush fires.
SINS OF THE FATHER
Sins of the Father was filmed in an installation titled PARLOUR in the Lindsay Family Parlour at the Art Gallery of Ballarat in 2018. The Lindsay Family furniture, objects and photographs were replaced by my furniture, objects and family photos.
WALKING ON MY WORDS
This video is my acknowledgement of country in video form
SQUATTERS AND SAVAGES
A collaboration with Peter Waples Crowe in response to the Art Gallery of Ballarat's colonial print collection. Exhibited in the SQUATTERS AND SAVAGES at the Art Gallery of Ballarat and winner of the Gertrude St Projection Festival 10th anniversary prize.
Sound response DERP DERP by Susan Maco Forrester and Dylan 'Sadge' Clarke
STRANGER
Stranger is 10:30 min video from Stage two of the KELOID project.
Much of the video was shot on land my forefathers occupied in the early 1800's. I am wearing a replica of my Great grandmothers dress reproduced from a photograph of her in Collins St Melbourne in 1880.
The soundtrack is composed by Biddy Connor and performed by The Letter String Quartet. The project developed from a residency both Biddy and I did at BOXOprojects at Joshua Tree USA.
Reveal
Reveal is from a body of work titled KELOID.
Keloid is a long term project that unfolds in stages.
Stage one – Confronting shame searches personal histories to explore the impact of colonisation on the identity of the coloniser. Reveal deals with my discomfort in looking at the past in the light of my experience of my late husband’s intergenerational trauma, as a consequence of actions taken by a society my ancestors belonged to.