Nathaniel has been drawing since he was old enough to hold a pencil. Painting came much later. He says: “I got into painting traditional realism because I was drawn to the ability to create a space and atmosphere. As I moved closer to what I do now, I realised that traditional realism had limits on what sort of emotion and effect it could create, and I started looking at artists who make works with a similar psychology. Victor Man, Justin Mortimer, Marlene Dumas, Brett Amory, etc. I took some cues from their technique and applied it to my own subject matter. I was also really into film and the German Expressionists had a lot to offer.

“I didn’t start out with ghost stories, but I was always after some feeling and psychology in my images. Working and analysing it over time, I realised that I was trying to reach my own anxieties from my childhood. I didn’t want to make biographical work, so I decided that I would make sort of little tableau scenes about the area and character of the real thing. That’s where the idea of “ghost stories” came in. It matches the spirit of folk tales in the area.”

Nathaniel understands the dangers of fideism and excessive ideological fervour. Faith which is not anchored to reason can be seductive and intolerant. It “dissociates us from conscience”. He explains: “My scenes always come from the midst of people lost in their ideologies. These people were probably lost and trying to find meaning in their life, found some idea of a purpose and gave up their worldview and conscience for that ideal. Ideals can be great, but when you try to fit the world into the narrow scope of an ideal, things get lost and distorted. Often, people think that their ideals can overcome the obstacles of reality: pain, injustice, grief, fear, etc. But disconnection from these inevitable parts of life blocks our ability to change and react. Conscience can help us empathise and help each other through difficult times and lighten the burden of our obstacles. I don’t propose any simple solutions and I try to be skeptical of them, but holding on to laws from thousands of years ago or assuming logic and cold methods justifies any atrocity (or that they can be ignored because somehow they weren’t truly a part of the ideal) is dangerous and should be exposed.”

Take a look at some of Nathaniel’s works below. His paintings have been part of group exhibitions in California, Colorado, Madrid and Munich. He is currently working on his first solo exhibition at Espositivo, an art gallery in Madrid. The show is called “This world is not our home”, and it is about the obsession of death and rising above the natural world. More on Nathaniel’s website (www.nathanielevansart.com), Saatchi Art (www.saatchiart.com/NathanielEvans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/NathanielEvansArt) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/nevans_art) pages.