Ewan John SSA is an artist and educator living and working under the shadow of Cairnpapple Hill, Torphichen. He graduated from Edinburgh College Art in 1996 and has been been a lecturer in Art & Design for over 10 years.

His current painting practice focuses on the traces of Neolithic existence in the hills surrounding his home. Through experimentation with shape and form and by pushing the limits of untraditional, raw and earthy materials, he looks for a tangible connection between both, ‘a sense of place’ and the challenges endured by both past and present inhabitants.

Currently represented by:

City Contemporary Art, Perth https://ccart.co.uk/

Instagram @ewanjohnartworks

Artist’s Statement:

My practice completely changed as a direct result of ‘Lockdown’. Until Covid, I had been working entirely in the disciplines of spoken word and moving image and had completely moved away from the physical act of creating 2D artworks.

However, as a lecturer working online throughout the pandemic, I found I was spending all day in front of a computer and walking the dog was the only break I had from the persistent glare of the screen. When it came to creative process, I felt I needed to literally ‘switch off’ and engage with something significantly more tangible, like paint and charcoal, without a reliance on anything digital. With this in mind, I started to look at the Neolithic landscapes outside my window and began to focus on the natural world and all of the history that went before.

I began to feel an empathy for those who lived in the area thousands of years ago, those who faced different struggles and fears, attempting to represent the forms and possible shared experiences I noted on my walks.

The works included in this exhibition are from an ongoing series titled, ‘Elements’. Exploring traditional and non traditional materials and representing the various forces in our daily lives and their impact on our state of mind.