Ethan Edvenson

I'm a big fan of drawing/mark-making and I'm a REAL big fan of the intersection of gesture and contour. Gestural marks are such good evidence of the artist's physicality and contour lines invite me into the artist's intention and mindfulness. @ethanedvenson plays with this intersection in a way when he makes his very gestural, playful, colorful imaginative drawings, full of movement and fast mark-making but then carefully cuts his drawings out and rebuild them in relief and sculpture. I'm intrigued by that desire to turn something intuitive into something so deliberate.

Sonatine Begins India ink and colored pencil on Bristol board 51.5”x29” Almost done sharing last year's drawings. Almost ready to share some of this year's drawings. 📷: @figmentartphoto

Fishin’ Ain’t What it Used to Be India ink and colored pencil on Bristol board 60”x58” 📷: @figmentartphoto

Soft instructions graphic I made for the DEAD OR AMAZING installation W/ @charles_borowicz At @p_s_won

Thank you @p_s_won for having us. Couldn't have asked for a better partner to show Dead or Amazing. With @ethanedvenson @troikatronix_isadora #madewithisadora

It's begun...or its ending..depending on how you look at it. Dead or Amazings closing festivities will happen Friday February 20th at @p_s_won , Gilbert Street. With remarks from Charlie @charles_borowicz and Ethan @ethanedvenson at 5. This was our first foray into this interactive world. Come talk about it with us :) ----- DEAD OR AMAZING is an immersive interactive installation that responds to a single viewer's movement to generate a unique visual and sonic environment. Each viewer activates a unique composite of hand-drawn elements, video, and sound driven by their body’s position and motion. These elements are layered together and projected across three video channels surrounding the viewer, inviting them to engage physically and explore different outcomes. DOA combines mixed-media drawings by Ethan Edvenson with sounds and video by Charles Borowicz. Edvenson’s style of layering and collage, composed in a web of relationships where individual images are sourced from memories and his everyday life, serves as a visual launching point for Borowicz’s mixture of synthesized and real-world audio sampling and video imagery exploring the ordinary and the fantastic. DOA asks the viewer to investigate ideas of authenticity, replication, and authorship. We are particularly interested in the idea of art as experience and computers vs humans as creators of that experience. What does creation require? How does intention or lack thereof inform the final product? Is randomness a valid method of expression? In this moment of AI becoming more and more accepted as a valid tool of production, what is the importance of the human element? Financial support for this project has been provided through an Artist Career Accelerator Grant by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

TERATOMA SLOW JUMPY India ink, charcoal, and chalk pastel on Bristol board 31”x37” House Horse Home Horror 📷 by @figmentartphoto

Exodus From Where I’m At India ink, chalk pastel, colored pencil, and acrylic on Paper 47”x29” This piece combines drawings created in May 2024 for the video of the same name. Each image is drawn from recorded moments and reflects how drawing is influenced by the perception of time and life as it unfolds. 📷 by @figmentartphoto

Exodus From Where I’m At 5m26s sequence of traditional drawings, stylized animation, and precisely recorded moments forms a bridge of life. Created in 2024 for PERCEPTOLOGY, a Des Moines Art Week event at the Fleur Cinema and Café. WATCH NOW ON YOUTUBE. LINK IN BIO.

"Sweetest Soul" India ink, chalk pastel, colored pencil, and red buttons on Paper 78”x25” 📷 by @figmentartphoto

"Morning Star at the End of All We Know" India ink and chalk pastel on Bristol board 33”x33” The victorious, everlasting Morning Star. Compared to His vibrance and light, even our old sun will appear dim and pathetic.

DEAD OR AMAZING is an immersive interactive installation that responds to a single viewer's movement to generate a unique visual and sonic environment. Each viewer activates a unique composite of hand-drawn elements, video, and sound driven by their body’s position and motion. These elements are layered together and projected across three video channels surrounding the viewer, inviting them to engage physically and explore different outcomes. DOA combines mixed-media drawings by Ethan Edvenson with sounds and video by Charles Borowicz. Edvenson’s style of layering and collage, composed in a web of relationships where individual images are sourced from memories and his everyday life, serves as a visual launching point for Borowicz’s mixture of synthesized and real-world audio sampling and video imagery exploring the ordinary and the fantastic. DOA asks the viewer to investigate ideas of authenticity, replication, and authorship. We are particularly interested in the idea of art as experience and computers vs humans as creators of that experience. What does creation require? How does intention or lack thereof inform the final product? Is randomness a valid method of expression? In this moment of AI becoming more and more accepted as a valid tool of production, what is the importance of the human element? Financial support for this project has been provided through an Artist Career Accelerator Grant by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority See it at PS1 Northside 229 N. Gilbert St., Iowa City Friday, December 19, 2025 thru Saturday, February 21