Bouquets for America
The installation, Bouquets for America, was created November 3, 2020 – January 20, 2021, between the U.S. election and the Presidential inauguration. This was a time of anxious waiting filled with post-election legal battles, spiraling death tolls from Covid-19, and a violent insurrection at the United States capitol. During this period, Evans turned to the practice of collage. She found the process of making each artwork a form of concentrated meditation – gathering up what was separated, over and over again, to build a new whole.
Hear Jil Evans talk about Bouquets for America
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View 50 + 1 collages of Bouquets for America
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Looking at the first few finished collages, Evans saw a burst of colors arrayed like a bouquet – a bouquet offering memento to raw grief, but also a visual plea for wholeness. With this recognition, Evans decided to create a series dedicated to each of the 50 United States, plus 1 for Washington, D.C. The collages vary in their ideas about space, from intimate to vast. Associations of specific American landscapes, industries, and even weather permeate the multi-faceted spaces that collage invites.
The dimensions of the individual works range from 8x8in, 11x11in, and 11x15in. The overall installation is approximately 6 x 36ft.
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