”Evolution” is a public art piece I made for Auli primary school. It consists of two equal stairwells mirrored, each placed at the two entrances to the school. The two works are virtually identical in form, and show four lizards spreading from a center of hexagons. Each lizard has left footprints on the wall so it is easy to see where they came from. One stairwell is in full vibrant colors, and the other stairwell is without any colors, only different kinds of wood.  

The evolution starts with the clusters hexagons, which is a very powerful building block in nature. In the order within the chaos of hexagons, different species of lizards have evolved. The smallest are transforming from the hexagons into simplified lizards that are hexagon based, which also fit into each other in an infinite pattern, just like the hexagons. This is my little nod to M.C. Escher, a dutch artist who made and used this lizard in different ways in the last century. These lizards are close to the center and have yet to be evolved into the free thinking big lizards that have gone away to explore.

I wanted to represent the passage and essence of evolution in a relatively small space. I wanted to show that evolving over time from natures building-blocks were curious creatures that go wherever they want. In this case I used lizards as the symbol of evolution. I used it because it is one of the first animals to evolve coming out of the sea to explore everything there is to see on land. Also because they are so versatile, and they have the ability to climb on walls, which is both fascinating and visually stimulating.

To make the two stairwells different but equal, I decided to make the same piece but without paint. Making them instead of different kinds of wood. This gave the work a more harmonizing feel, more subtle than with colors. Some of the lizards virtually camouflaged on the wall, while the epicenter of the evolution changed characteristics to something more natural and less flashy. I like the contrast between the two. 

The footprints where painted in clearcoat, making them more hidden, only to be revealed with the light hitting at different angles. The building that both the color and wood version hangs is for 1-4th grade kids in primary school. I hope this can provide them with something cool to look at and maybe something to think about. At least to prove to them that art can come in many forms and doesn’t have to be a picture in a frame.