In his studio, surrounded by paint-splattered postcards and art books showing printed reproductions of celebrated artworks from history, Wood-Evans works instinctively. Through his practice the artist recontextualises the Old Masters, using each reference as a springboard for his own creativity. Familiar images are iterated beyond recognition, then pulled back into focus, then reworked again in a continual play of push and pull with the past. Wood-Evans’ layered approach of addition and reinvention shows how painting can continue to renew our relationship with history.

Wood-Evans’ process echoes how we experience memory – incomplete, fluid, and continually rewritten. He paints quickly, using intuitive strokes with brushes, knives, scrapers and gloved hands to move the surface, rearranging the scene before it dries. In this reordering, the painting’s character develops and expands our potential readings of the work. His mark-making combines acts of construction and of loss, preserving certain fragments while allowing others to disappear. He intends to leave impressions that emulate the physical imprints of time. In Wood-Evans’ hands, historical imagery remains live, shifting with each encounter. His work attempts to untether prestigious, hallowed artworks from their traditional settings and contexts, and through reworking the imagery, reveal their inherent instability.

The practice of copying the Old Masters is a well understood and longstanding part of Western artistic education. It was seen as a non-negotiable part of an artist’s training and is a critical way for artists to learn from their forebears. But it also offers the opportunity to display a new artistic vision and commentary, presenting a unique field of work for artists. 

The paintings in this collection take inspiration from J.M.W. Turner, forming a dialogue with significant works loaned from Tate for the exhibition. Jake was lucky enough to spend one-on-one time with Turner’s works in preparation for the exhibition, and as the work developed, additional reference points from Claude Lorrain, Willem van de Velde the Younger (from whom Turner took inspiration) arrived into the work, as well as from Nicoholas Pocock and James McNeil Whistler, who in turn took inspiration from Turner. Wood-Evans embraces the physicality of oil paint as an active force capable of dissolving, concealing and transforming the image and in doing so continues Turner’s exploration of paint not simply as a vehicle for representation, but as a subject in its own right – capable of conveying atmosphere, emotion and the instability of vision.