Hunter Emerging Art Prize
Finalists and Winners
YEAR:
2026
Category:
Painting
Artist Name:
Keegan Evans
Title:
Hokum of the Soul

Materials:
Acrylic and oil on canvas
Dimensions:
40 x 50 cm
Price
550
About the artwork:
'Hokum of the Soul' is part of an ongoing body of work that marries my two distinctive styles into one. It is a search for cohesion within my work and sense of self. The figure is established through fast, expressive and vibrant acrylic paint before oil paint is added to create tension and resolution between spontaneity and refined control. The piece reflects the difference between my artistic instinct and self-conscious public-facing identity.
Through covering and uncovering, and linking disparate styles, I create a charming nonsense that pokes fun at my internal tendency to self-mythologise. Underneath, I still contain the child who likes quick, bright colours, yet now, as an adult, I refine them. It is my desire for free expression and my need to make things that others enjoy. It is the magic of creating for the self and the reality of what you create to satisfy the eyes of others.
