Llyr Evans: Filtering Identity
March 26th, 2023
By Liv Collins
A few months ago, I found myself scrolling online, looking for some exhibitions to pop into whilst staying with my grandparents in Wales. Amongst the usual tourist suggestions I stumbled upon the Oriel Davies Gallery website, and there, front and center was a photograph taken by emerging photographer, Llyr Evans. Blown away by the beauty of the image, I knew I needed to know more about this artist and how the work came to be.
Enthused, over the course of two days in early March 2023, Llyr and I had a conversation over email about his work. What follows are excerpts from our digital chat – diving into themes of queer Welsh identity, Americana, and gorgeous golden boots.
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
I thought a good place to start, would be if you could fill in the reader with who you are, and how you are doing on this cloudy Monday morning.
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
My name is Llyr, I’m a photographer from North Wales studying at Central Saint Martins, working in the intersection between fashion, documentary, and fine art photography.
I’m well thanks, you’ve caught me between charity shops on the hunt for props for a shoot I’m planning. I’ve just found the most fabulous ashtray that’s an essential purchase. How’re you doing?
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
Fashion, documentary, and fine art photography feels like a holy trinity!
What a lovely way to start the week by mooching around charity shops.
I’m interested in the role that props play in your work, why do you like to use them?
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
My three favorite things! I think props and second-hand clothing is so important to me when I make a ‘tableau vivant’ scene which is a bit more constructed. To know that something has had a life before giving it a new context creates its own narrative within itself.
Maybe I’m enabling myself to being a hoarder, but I love being immersed in old things as a source of inspiration.
I sourced a gorgeous Bob Mackie dress from an eBay seller from LA called like SkinnyandRich I think, whose dress was handed down to her from her mother’s friend. I gave new life to it with my friend Dakota, where I shot in the Mandrake hotel with an Americana old Hollywood vibe. I sent the photos to her after and she adored seeing it in use again, which was so nice.
Untitled, 2022
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
I’m here for enabling maximalism! For the photograph Untitled, was the dress the starting point for the shoot? How did you go about constructing the image?
It’s cool to think about who else could have worn this dress before her - like imagine Judy Garland.
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
My parent’s garage is full of props and clothes that I’ve collected over the years - we’d go to the carboot every weekend when I was growing up, so they taught me to become a magpie. I treat constructing my photos as an equation almost with all the parts in front of me. The Mandrake were very kind in helping me with the room, and I have another shoot planned soon with there as a backdrop in coming weeks.
I know! I’d love to imagine Zsa Zsa Gabor wore it doing her errands in Beverly Hills, she’s one of my idols.
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
Being taught to be a magpie is the sweetest thing. It makes me think of lineality, of not only being taught to seek out hidden gems, but also of objects being passed down. What do you think about this idea of lineage within your work? Also, are the gold boots in Dafydd 1 one of your magpie finds?
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
Absolutely, I think it’s really important - bringing a new perspective on familiar objects is interesting to me - using them as a device to provide an alternate universe that echoes my reality behind the images.
I like to document my experiences in a stylised way in the self portraits paired side by side with the images of my dad (Dafydd). The project focusing on my dad was part of a series called “Hiraeth”, which is a word that has no direct translation into English but is ultimately a deep yearning for home. I visited my family home on Anglesey with a suitcase of my clothes, where I restaged moments from my family album through a contemporary lens - it was about loving someone from a distance with the kinship that sharing clothes has; like the intimacy of borrowing your friend’s jumper.
Those boots were from a fancy dress section in a charity shop in Peckham I believe, but in my opinion a lovely subtle everyday shoe.
Dafydd 1, 2022
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
What inspires you to pair your self-portraits alongside photographs of your dad? Also, the idea of using an object as a device to create an alternate world makes me think of queer world-making. Is this something you are interested in within your work?
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
I think it’s to do with a more literal generational lineage maybe, they’re my most personal works and pairing them together just makes sense to me. Autonomy to make phantasmagoric work using my personal influences is something very freeing.
I don’t feel as constrained in the work I make as I may do in the physical world - e.g. I have a different wardrobe for London / Anglesey. Filtering identity is something that is very common from my experience in rural Wales, and making a stage for free expression is something I find to be beautiful.
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
Creating worlds you feel completely free in is not only beautiful, but it’s a powerful way of carving out your own space in a world which isn’t always accepting and hospitable. I like what you say about ‘making a stage for free expression’, I definitely feel this in your photograph Untitled.
Could you tell me more about this image and the ideas which are infused within it?
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
This photo was inspired from my time at Bangor University’s archives, where I was researching Queer Welsh history, and I learnt more about Henry Cyril Paget who I really identified with. His freedom of expression was a really powerful turning point in the contextual process of the work. Inspiring the careful curation and solitude that I aim to capture. One of his most ostentatious displays was on his honeymoon in Paris, he allegedly covered his wife with the contents of a whole jewellery shop, to only observe - which painted an emotional mental scene to me. And prompted me to create this response to the narrative, aided by my childhood best friend who helped paint me in gold. This photo is an homage to Henry Paget’s legacy, after the attempted erasure of his character from history.
The contrast between my welsh upbringing and having lived in London is something I’m exploring currently. It’s about existing and finding a sense of belonging in a place that isn’t fully welcoming.
Untitled, 2022
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
Please tell me more about Henry Cyril Paget! The environment adds a mythic weight to this work. What drove you to stage this photograph in that particular location?
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
Another of my icons!
He converted part of Plas Newydd where he lived into a theatre where he would put on plays (some by Oscar Wilde) and would perform something called a ‘butterfly dance’ between shows, which gave him the nickname “the dancing marquis”. Search for photos of him on Google, his costumes were incredible!!
A great example of fluidity of dress and freedom. He ended up in lots of debt through his flamboyant spending, and all of his items were auctioned off, which had amazing jewellery, monogrammed everything and endless amounts of gorgeous things - then most photos and his documents were scrubbed from history. Having scenes like this on my doorstep was something I took for granted for so long, and connecting back with nature and folklore such as the Mabinogi has also informed my work, which is so steeped in the landscape and local culture.
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
Oh my!! He looks like a Victorian rockstar. I am manifesting that one day you find his costumes and put on the most extravagant shoot. It’s interesting how Welsh folklore and landscape inform your work. Is this the case for Self Portrait? I’m curious to find out the inspiration behind this one.
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
I know, I wonder where they are!! We live in hope haha.
This was one of the first photos I took on a medium format camera - I found this chair at an English Heritage site and knew I wanted to recreate the Birth of Venus by Botticelli, it was a very pure idea, and was put together rather unconsciously, but has become one of my favourite photos for that simplicity.
Self Portrait, 2022
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
What strikes me about this photograph is that it feels so familiar. How much does art history inform your practice more broadly?
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
I was looking into the concept of simulacrum during the time I took this - which replaces reality with representation, and how this affects the viewer.
An installation I love is “one and three chairs” by Kosuth. It was these ideas I was looking into when turning my gaze to these classical descriptions of beauty. Then, placing myself into those scenes - making it into a concept informed by the original but standing for a different message, using the format of the original as the vehicle.
It’s something that is heavily concentrated on in my studies at CSM. Fashion and art history is essential to the work - and how intention is a key facet of making meaningful work. Having had deep experiences with art myself, it’s my intention to recreate that emotion in my work.
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
I’m curious if you were thinking about similar ideas when you took Dafydd 2? I sense an art history vibe rippling through this piece – perhaps reminiscent of Catherine Opie’s work, and also Renaissance portraits.
Dafydd 2, 2022
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
Renaissance portraits definitely have influenced me, I tracked depictions of fatherhood in the research stage for sure. I think the next step would be to combine myself and my father in a photo together, which could be interesting as I mostly photograph solo subjects. I haven’t heard of Catherine Opie; I’ll have a look!
To <Llyr Evans>
From <Liv Collins>
I’d also recommend checking out Hockney’s ‘double portraits’ – they’re of people he loved, and have lots of symbolism imbedded within them.
What can the world expect of Llyr Evans, for 2023 and beyond?
To <Liv Collins>
From <Llyr Evans>
I love the one of his parents, so special! Just searched Catherine Opie and I love, I think I saw a couple of her American Football photos at the Barbican in the masculinities exhibition, v gorgeous.
I’m starting my last year of university in September, so more experimental work - moving image is something I’ve always wanted to explore. Definitely more documentary images. I love Americana, I’m going to an elvis convention this year which will be interesting to document - but the dream is to go to America or Patagonia to work on a new series of portraits.
About Llyr Evans
Llyr Evans (b.2000) is a visual artist studying at Central Saint Martins. His practise combines fashion, documentary, and fine art photography - exploring themes of identity and moments of solitude.