Euphorian Escapes

Euan Boyd’s first solo exhibit presents a showcase for

his love of drawing and design. His 'Euphorian Escapes'

are mind maps, based on personal experiences. As the artist unwinds, seeking to deal with the mundane, the stresses of everyday life, he experiences his “euphoric escapes”, small visual escapes into other worlds.

These visual escapes draw on his creativity and imagination, as he reflects on, and unwinds from,

his work as a bespoke picture framer, his study as a

visual artist, and his social life style in contemporary Brisbane. He maps out his euphoric territory as mind

maps charting a journey from the pragmatics of

everyday life that sustain us to the expansive possibilities

of the sensual and spiritual life that makes us human.

This show illustrates how Euan’s artistic practice has changed and grown since moving from the North Coast

 to Brisbane. Euan’s earlier practice of creating large black and white line drawings, inspired by urban street art, emphasised the power of negative space and simplistic optical illusions created by repeated and remorphed

 design and composition choices. He has gradually moved

 to the heavy use of repeated motifs, precision line work, colour and psychedelic patterning. In doing so, he

creates contemporary mandalas, in keeping with the

many alternative cultures in this part of eastern Australia.

He is not alone in seeking a journey from the everyday

to the everything. His simple ascetic visuals invite the audience to join him in their journey, their euphoric state, to escape into and lose themselves in the visuals,

to find a happy euphoric state.

Reflecting personal experiences, 'Euphorian Escapes' rely

on the “first line is the last” approach to drawing.

Just as in life, all sketching lines and repeated patterning

of smaller sketches are kept, cannot be erased – the emphasis is on the importance of every line, of every life decision. Euan’s work references his craft as a bespoke picture framer, inverting practical materials to seek his alternative euphoric visual places. His materials are from

his every day workplace: the black matt board’s original purpose was to protect or complement artworks;

they now become the art. The format, size and shape

are those of the mud maps Euan uses when planning

a picture frame. The naïve drawing style links to work planning sketches, and are influenced by the numerous cross-stitches Euan is asked to stretch at work. Trade watercolour pencils indent the board to create the psychedelic metallic finished look. In sum, a complete transition from the mundane to the euphoric.

Euan’s goal as a creative practitioner is to make art that straddles cultural boundaries, create thought-provoking discussions, and provoke others to both question their

roles in society whilst inspiring their creativity and imagination. He draws on popular culture, street art and

the current creative climate. Euan holds a Diploma in

Visual Arts from Southbank TAFE, Brisbane, and is

currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Creative Industries

at Queensland University of Technology. He contributed

to the group exhibit ‘Cabaret’ (Southbank Piazza),

and the ‘Around the Cube’ creative community project (Seven Hills, Brisbane). His work has been published in

the Brisbane-based Dreamtime Magazine (2014), the academic journal Coolabah (2013), and a 2007 book

of poetry, Halfway There. He has co-curated the

 ‘Green Dragon’ art award exhibit (Brisbane).