Simon Evans paints and weaves and creates maps, whether that be of a scientific illustration of human anatomy, a town wherein all is whited out, a subway map with names replaced with bizzare connotations, the entirety of his possessions, or an imaginary version of the world. This reminds me of the delightful (illustrated and annotated) novel
The Collected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larson (which you should go read immediately, if not sooner). T.S. (Tecumseh Sparrow) is 12, and lives in Divide, MT, and maps everything in his life experience (from the distribution of trash in Chicago, to means of not appearing lonely, to the frequency of arm movements during his father's drinking a glass of whiskey, to the mating dance of beetles). Simon Evans does the same, with artistic license, rather than strict empiricism of the modern-day Humboltian cartography protegy Spivet.
Symptoms of Loneliness, 2009
Pen, paper, scotch tape, correction fluid
28 1/2 X 39 3/8 inches
Home Country, 2008-9
Paper weaving
58 5/8 X 42 1/8 inches
Lemuel Gulliver, 2004-5
Mixed media on paper
30.25 x 44 inches
Different Drugs, 2004
Mixed media on paper
19.75 x 26 inches
The World, 2003
Mixed media on paper
60 x 84 inchesEvans' work, though less abstract, reminds me of natural phenomena paintings of
Paterson Ewen. (I came across Evans via
but does it float). I wrote more about
The Collected Works of T.S. Spivet here. Even the
website somehow managed to move me. The novel is a thing of beauty not to be missed!
Carly Waito (one half of
Coe and Waito, previously featured in
magpie & whiskeyjack's post
roccocco jellyfish) has been painting minerals. (I found this out both via
dear ada and via
sara titanic whose blog includes photos of Carly's process and who has written an article about her studio visit for
Now magazine). I've been thinking about depicting minerals for a long time (you know, I am an earth scientist after all, and it is mystifying, though self-evident that crystals and gems are present in the zeitgeist, and they are perfect for the conceptual wunderkammer I am secretly gathering)... but while they make an unwiedly subject for a relief print Waito's delicate, precise, luminous portraits with their perfect imperfections are exactly what is called for. Enjoy!
bornite ~ oil on masonite ~ 7" x 6.5" The common name of this mineral (for obvious reasons) is peacock ore.
Hessonite, Asbestos ~ oil on masonite ~ 6" x 6"
Amethyst 2 ~ oil on masonite ~ 5.5" x 7". If you are in Toronto, you can see these paintings for yourself at the group show
Little Crowns, at
Narwhal. (If you aren't, note the dimensions - unlike Evans' maps, these portraits are small).
Scientific illustrator
Cornelia Hesse-Honegger is a real-life artist-researcher whose artwork is science in and of itself. Her sensitive, beautiful watercolours of morphologically disturbed insects, including, for instance, those she has gathered in the fallout region surrounding Chernobyl both are portraits in the artistic sense and scientific evidence. She has also gathered and illustrated insects from other regions which may have radioactive contamination. There is something delightfully 19th century about gathering and illustrating specimens of insects, but as we persist in changing our environment, the insects themselves will change in turn, and require such careful descriptive art and science.
Drosophila melanogaster, head and abdomen
Head and abdomen are disturbed.
Watercolor, Zürich 1987 (specimen from Chernobyl)
37 different Ladybird Beetles from Switzerland
Watercolor, 1976 - 1981 
Ambush bug near Three Mile Island, USA
Ventral: the left side front foot is damaged; the right side one has a dark spot, as well as Watercolor, New Cumberland / Zürich 1991 Where fields intersect ideas clash, but the clash itself can be fruitful; never discount what fresh eyes can see.
I seem to have fallen out of the habit of regularly reviewing books on my blog. I used to be more disciplined about it, and there is a series of reviews on the minouette blog (and here), including the one below for one of my favorite books of the last several years. I've also mentioned The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet on magpie&whiskeyjack, comparing the whimsical maps and scientific illustration of everything incorporated into the work of artist Simon Evans with those of the more strictly empirical modern-day Humboltian cartography protegy Spivet. If you, like me, are inspired by the fertile intersection of art and science, this is a novel for you. You should go read it right away, because as I was very pleased to read this morning, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (director of Amelie, or Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain in French) has adapted the novel for a movie to be released in France (filmed in English, with French subtitles) in October.Reading this novel I thought, yes, this is what I want to do all the time. Why can't I just get paid to read books like this? I would be happy doing this indefinitely. Of course, are there books like this one? That is a harder question to answer. Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet (best. name. ever.) is a gifted prodigy in cartography at 12 years old. He lives on a ranch near Divide, Montana, with his mother, stalled entomologist, Dr. Clair, his teenage sister, Gracie, who would love to escape their small town and peculiar family, and strong-silent cowboy father T.E. Spivet. His brother Layton, has died, and we slowly learn more. T.S. keeps different coloured notebooks for maps of people doing things: zoological, geological, and topographical maps; and insect anatomy (should Dr. Clair ever call on his help), respectively. T.S. learns he has won the prestigious Baird Award from the Smithsonian, for his incredible mapping and scientific illustration work, and his adventure begins, as he decides to accept in person, but being 12, he sees his best means of transport as to hop on a freight train and hobo east. In this beautiful, whimsically illustrated book, T.S. maps everything from the Continental divide, to beetle subspecies, to cowboy moves, to facial expressions, to geology, to how McDonald's "penetrates my permeable barrier of aesthetic longing", to concentration of litter in Chicago, to his family history, to a many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and what this might have meant for his family. This book is beautiful, in terms of the sensitivity and originality of the story (Wormholes of the Midwest! the hobo hotline?), the love of knowledge expressed, down to the layout of the text and images on the page. Maybe we will be lucky enough to be recruited into the Megatherium club. The manner in which this child's mind breaks up the world is a reminder of why science is wonderful and the joy of unfettered thinking. The story is also interwoven with that of T.S.' ancestors, including his great-grandmother the early geologist. We get both 'when science was young' and 'the young scientist'.
