Evan Mazellan’s paintings grapple with privacy, injury, and ownership, lifting objects and materials directly from digital media, personal photos, and belongings in and around their studio. Familiar objects take on new meaning as they are fragmented and reassembled into a pictorial space that highlights the permanence found in media and mass production. Mazellan explores the sought-after transformation found in art restoration and medical surgery, a process prone to unexpected outcomes and mishaps, where the pursuit of enhancement can swing between helping and harming.

Over the past year, Mazellan’s work has centered on celebrities, religious figures, and sports icons, all tied together by a common thread of personal transformation: a desire to leave behind one’s old self and become someone anew. Expanding based on scale and charged associations, the work simultaneously revels in and calls into question the blurred lines of personal and public life.