LJ Evans

Botanicals

2022 | MFA Thesis Exhibit

Botanicals

Scanography images of christmas cactii flowers, courtesy of the artist — Christmas Cactus: Schlumbergera truncata

Scanned image of a rosette, courtesy of the artist — Rosette: Echeveria elegans

Scanned image of a grid of yellow leaves from the Paper Birch & Quaking Aspen, courtesy of the artist — Paper Birch & Quaking Aspen: Betula neoalaskana & Populus tremuloides

scanned image of a pink peony, courtesy of the artist — Peony: Ada niva

scanned image of a row of morels, courtesy of the artist — Tricias Morels #2: Morchella esculenta

scanned image of two yellow begonias, courtesy of the artist — Begonia 'Picotee Sunburst': Begonia tuberosa

scanned image of a fiddle-leaf fig & croton, courtesy of the artist — Fiddle-leaf Fig & Croton: Ficus Iyrata & Codiaeum variegatum

scanned image of a pink dahlia and a leaf hopper, courtesy of the artist — Dahlia & Leaf Hopper: Dahlia 'Firepot' & Cicadellidae

scanned image of yellow rudbeckia & nasturtians, courtesy of the artist — Rudbeckia & Nasturtians: Rudbeckia hirta 'IndianSummer' & Tropaeolum majus

scanned image of a bright red amaryllis, courtesy of the artist — Amaryllis 'Ferrari': Hippaestrum

scanned image of a coleus, courtesy of the artist — Coleus: Coleus scutellarioides

scanned image of cattails and cow parsnips, courtesy of the artist — Cattails & Cow Parsnips: Typhaceae & Heracleum lanatum

scanned image of green Tiger Lillies, courtesy of the artist — Tiger Lillies: Lillium Iancifolia

scanned image of a large sunflower, courtesy of the artist — Logan;s Sunflower: Helianthus

scanned image of a porcelainflower, courtesy of the artist — Porcelainflower: Hoya carnosa 'Compacta'

scanned image of green tomatilloes on a stalk, courtesy of the artist — Amy's Tomatillo: Physalis philadelphica

two rows of yellow Siberian elm leaves, courtesy of the artist — Siberian Elm: Ulmus pumila

a scanned image of fireweed seed pods, courtesy of the artist — Fireweed Seed Pods: Epilobium augutsifolium

scanned image of a wilting sunflower on its side, courtesy of the artist — Logan's Sunflower Reclining: Helianthus

a scanned image of Swiss chard leaves stacked one on top of the other, courtesy of the artist — Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights': Beta vulgaris

scanned image of pale green cactii and succulents, courtesy of the artist — Cactus & Succulents: Trichocereus grandiflorus hybrid, Adromischus cristatus & Haworthia emelyae

scanned image of fireweed leaves, courtesy of the artist — Fireweed Leaves: Epilobium augustifolium

Scanned image of a leatherleaf fern, courtesy of the artist — Leatherleaf Fern: Rumohra adiantiformus

scanned image of a rosa rugosa, courtesy of the artist — Rosa Rugosa

Artist Statement

Over the winter of 2020 – 2021 I began experimenting with creating photographic images using a high-resolution flatbed scanner. The ones I found most compelling and thought-provoking were of plant materials: flowers, leaves, even whole plants. I scanned each of these objects in a darkened room with the cover of the scanner up, instead of flat against the glass as would be the norm. The only source of light in these images is the LED light in the bar of the scanner as it moves precisely and slowly down the length of the glass. I found the quality of light captured by the scanner quite astonishing. The extreme detail because of the high resolution reveals a world unseen, a world of its own. At the same time the extremely narrow depth of field resulting from this process and the bottomless black surrounding the image add a sense of potent mystery.

Read the Thesis

Artist's Website

Gallery Images

Photos hang and plants adorn the UAF Art Gallery on the opening night of the Botanicals exhibition | image courtesy of LJ Evans

LJ Evans in the UAF Art Gallery during her show, Botanicals | image courtesy of LJ Evans

About the Artist

Though born and raised in El Paso, Texas, LJ Evans has called Alaska home since 1986. Evans first connected in earnest with fine art photography in 1979 at PhotoGraphics Workshop, a teaching space and gallery in New Canaan, Conn. A passion for photography has been an important part of her life ever since. For a number of years she worked with classic analog black and white darkroom prints and still feels profoundly drawn to the simplicity of monochrome imagery. It wasn’t until she started experimenting with Polaroid materials in the 1990s that Evans began to produce a significant amount of work in color. Botanical Dreams comes from more recent explorations with various alternative photographic processes and is so far her deepest dive into vivid color. Evans’ work is in a number of private collections and has received Honorable Mentions in Rarefied Light and Alaska Positive, Alaska’s statewide juried photography exhibits and she’s had solo shows at Fairbanks Arts Association’s Bear Gallery and at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In 2022 Evans completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography at UAF.

Department of Art

LJ Evans

Botanicals

2022 | MFA Thesis Exhibit

Botanicals

Artist Statement

Gallery Images

About the Artist

Questions?

CLA Contact Information

UAF College of Liberal Arts

CLA Departments & Programs