A Solo Exhibition by Belinda Evans

ALONG THE PATH is the debut solo exhibition by Belinda Evans, representing a dedicated inquiry into the nature of journey and the unfolding mark. This body of work explores travels through diverse landscapes, from the river trails of Heidelberg and the coastal paths of the Mornington Peninsula to a 16-day pilgrimage along Spain’s Camino. These physical experiences serve as the catalyst for an intuitive, ‘pre-intellectual’ artistic and philosophical exploration. Central to Evans’s practice is an investigation into the primacy of the gesture over the intellect. By allowing the mark to emerge before the analytical mind can intervene, she taps into the mystery of the creative process and a sense of indefinable Quality that exists beyond formal definition. Her multidisciplinary response, comprising large-scale gestural works and hundreds of intimate sketches, documenting a journey of awakening where the body’s kinetic energy is transformed into a transcription of inner experience.

The exhibition transforms the Montsalvat Barn Gallery into an immersive environment where the visual and auditory converge. The walls are activated by a dialogue between energetic, large-scale drawings and a soundscape featuring the recorded rhythms of footsteps on the varied terrains of the Camino. This installation invites the viewer to experience the sensory resonance of the path, bridging the external landscape with an internal, creative awakening.

Finding Stillness Along the Path

We often talk about the Camino in kilometres, elevations, and stamps in a credential.  For me, the 16-day walk I recently did across the central Camino Frances way, was defined by a different metric, the distance between the noise in my mind and the steady rhythm of my feet.

I thought I was ready, physically and mentally, but there were moments, many of them, where my mind would construct a wall of doubt, insisting that the next hill was too steep or the pack too heavy.  Yet, every day, there was a quiet miracle in my body’s ability to simply finish. My legs had a resolve that my intellect hadn’t yet caught up to.

I found the only way to ‘survive’ my mind was to take regular stops.  So I incorporated my artistic needs with my resting, and watched as the convoy of pilgrims passed me by.

As an artist, my instinct is to translate experience into a mark. On the path, stopping on the side of the track wasn’t just about resting my feet; it was about slowing down the world until I could actually see it. When I pulled out my paper and brush, the ‘hurry’ of the journey dissolved.

In those moments of drawing, a profound connection occurred. First, I connected with everything around me.  The amazing way the storks could nest and perch on small church roofs, the miracle of many tiny insects and animals thriving next to the hot dusty gravel, the inviting moss and winding branches of the magical forests. And then, my connection moved deeper. By focusing on the gesture, letting my hand move before my brain could overthink it, I was able to connect with myself at a level that words couldn’t reach.  It was like capturing my transformation as a transcription of the struggle, the beauty and the spirit of the experience, all combined.

Since returning to my studio in Melbourne, and most recently during a residency at Scott’s Church in Heidelberg, I have been reliving those moments from my 100 small sketches taken during the walk.   I have found an amazing way to relive the thrill of the walk. Every time I strike the paper with brush and ink, I am back on that trail, re-experiencing the joy and the hardships.

The finished body of work, which I’ve titled Along the Path, is less a collection of images and more a record of an internal process of creative and personal transformation. 

I am bringing these records of the walk to Montsalvat this April.  I look forward to sharing these works with you, not just about art, but as conversations about the rhythms we all find on the path.  I would be honoured to meet fellow pilgrims, to hear the stories of your own paths, and to celebrate the quiet joy of finally arriving. – Belinda Evans

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Belinda Evans – Multidisciplinary Artist
Belinda Evans is a Melbourne (Naarm) based multidisciplinary artist whose practice is a performative translation of the world around her, spanning landscape, portraiture, and life drawing. Working primarily with ink, paint, and charcoal, she seeks to distil the vital energy and “unencumbered freedom” of movement into a lasting visual record on paper. Central to Evans’s work is an exploration into the primacy of the gesture over the
intellect. Her process bypasses analytical thought to allow for a “pre-intellectual” transcription of experience, seeking an indefinable Quality that exists beyond formal definition. Whether capturing the natural environment or the human form, Evans utilizes the mystical ability of drawing and sculpture to “find what is inside a person or place” and bring it to the surface visually.

Her artistic perspective is deeply shaped by extensive global travel and a significant period living in England, where she immersed herself in rich and varied cultural landscapes. Experiencing different locations often, she has developed a unique ability to chronicle the emotional and spiritual connection to place. This history informs her current exhibition, which captures the rhythms of the Yarra River in Heidelberg, the Mornington Peninsula coast, and her 16-day pilgrimage along the Camino in Spain. With over 20 years of professional practice, Evans holds a Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture from RMIT and a Fine Arts Diploma study in Sydney. Her sculptural background remains a primary influence, as she explores the sophisticated interplay between two-dimensional marks and three-dimensional, immersive installations.