Stripey Bag | Amanda Evans

I studied Textile Design at RMIT and in my honours year I did work experience at Rose Chong Costumes. Whilst working there I started my own fashion label printing fabrics and then making one off items and selling at Fat 52 and Alice Euphemia. After a few years at Rose Chong I got offered a job on a film working as a costume stand by. Since then I have worked on big American TV shows- The Leftovers as well as local shows such as Spicks and Specks. In the film world I'm a freelancer so I can go from working 16 hour days for months to being unemployed. This is why I ended up painting.

“Stripey Bag” is a show featuring all elements of my job from op shopping, to green screens to the beloved stripey bag I carry most of the costumes in. This year I have had 3 big jobs cancelled because of the writers strike - terrible for my bank account great for putting together a show and paint for hours.

I start with a photo either taken from my travels or cut from a vintage book and create a collage. I then remove all colour and use the outline to paint in the colours I'm feeling. I hate painting arms and faces hence they hide behind cut out flowers or bits of fabric. My favourite medium is gouache but I'm slowly adding in spray and puff paint for my own excitement.