I recently had the pleasure of talking with Evan Viera, Northampton-based animator, composer, and international man of mystery. I’m pretty excited about Evan’s work. It’s stuff that makes your heart soar and your eyes get wide. Get to know a bit about this character in our interview, and then go and check out his art!
*Please excuse the wonky formatting. What is it with moms and their dinosaur computers?
Evan’s blog-www.orchidtheatre.com
Evan’s new film-www.calderathefilm.com
What are you trying to communicate or explore in your work?
Being a storyteller it varies from project to project. Caldera, which is an animated short I’ve been making for three years, is about mental illness. Although I’m trying to communicate many things with it, the most important theme is that mental illness is more of a symptom of our intensely marginalizing society rather than an inherent problem of an individual. My father is bipolar-schizoaffective, and before he broke down he was incredibly brilliant. This is true for many similarly diagnosed individuals. Without proper support and nourishment, some brilliant minds collapse under their own weight. As a society, we’re missing out by keeping our mentally ill out on the sidelines. This of course is a gross simplification of a very complex problem.
Where were you when you created one of your favorite works?
Probably leaning over my drafting table in the middle of the night. I like the late hours, when everything is still and quiet.
How do you see your art in relation to cultivating community, and how does community effect the work you make? Music, art, and cinema enhance my life. They dilate my senses and make me experience the world more intensely, they often bring out dormant emotions and allow me to reflect on them. I hope that my work does the same to others. My sole goal is to add salt to the bland moments in people’s lives.
What is your spirit animal?
Eeyore.
No, not anymore. I’m working on that…
My goal is the Fox from the Little Prince.
What spaces in Northampton are you most curious to see inside of, or to make work in?
Anything abandoned. It’s too bad the mental hospital is gone… But there are others in the area.
What are some strategies you use to sustain your art practice (while living in Northampton)?
I’ve done a fair bit of fundraising through Kickstarter and other sources. After Caldera’s done I’ll be traveling with it trying to find financial support to start a small studio with some close friends/collaborators.
What 5 items do you always carry with you?
Daily? Nothing interesting. Just coffee I suppose. But while looking for inspiration, my camera and field recorder.
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Evan is an animator and composer living in Northampton, Massachusetts. He has worked on several short films as sound designer, composer, and visual artist. Evan graduated from Hampshire College in 2006, his Division III “Sycamore Eve” was a short animated film that won “Best Animated Film” in the Scene First Student Film Festival. This film had an exciting festival life, it screened internationally and showed at the notable VISIONFEST in 2007