Evan Penny

Evan Penny is a sculptor who is predominantly interested in the depiction of the human form, including the distortions implicated in photographic representation. His works are often slightly larger than life-size and hyper-realistic. He uses silicone, human hair and resin to create portraits that are often skewed or stretched, and yet they are uncannily lifelike. Penny plays with our expectations, along with our perceptions, offering an experience that connects something profoundly human with the emptiness of an avatar. His works are mesmerizingly tactile, and irresistibly awkward. We cannot stop looking, yet we feel at the same time the impulse to look away. In the iconic works of Penny, the fixed glass eyes he uses arrest his viewers. In Back of Danny #3 we feel their absence; the search for the eyes and the face keeps the viewer absorbed. In Penny’s sculptures, we see meticulous details - hair, skin folds, scars - all the features that compose a distinct individual. In this work, however, with the subject’s back turned, the individual’s identity remains concealed. Instead, we become very aware of the surface of the skin, the vulnerability of the exposed shoulders, and the sculptural qualities of the subject’s body.