Pearly King Skip Falling

Christchurch trained artist Evelyn Hewlett returns to the city with an installation that conveys ideas of memory and loss. Pearly king skip falling draws on the artists experiences working at King Street Artworks in Masterton, a workshop for mental health consumers, and in particular the personality and artwork of Stuart Namana, who was a client at King Street in the last six months of his life. At King Street Namana was given a batch of buttons from a factory that was closing down, which he incorporated into complex sculptural creations, the most ambitious of which was an intricate Warenui.

Hewletts own work responds to this Warenui, creating an installation which can be seen as both a collaboration with Stuart Namana, and a personal requiem to his life. Through it's subtle evocation of Namanas life and work, pearly king skip falling questions the distinctions often made between 'outsider art' and contemporary arts practice, while exploring issues of ownership and control.

Reviews, Essays & Articles
Art in face of adversity
The Press, 2000 Jan. 26, p. 35
Wright, Nik.
Pearly king skip falling: Evelyn Hewlett and Autonomous Action: new Chinese art on video curated by Richard Dale.

Cultural stories using video
Christchurch Star, 2000 Jan. 26, p. B5
Pearly king skip falling; Evelyn Hewlett and Autonomous Action; new Chinese art on video curated by Richard Dale.