Skinhead has always been a highly visual culture, and photographs of skins from every period are plentiful – yet it has rarely been the subject of painting. Khana Evans, an English painter in her twenties, has begun to fill that gap with a growing body of portraits centred on subcultures, especially skinheads. Her figures, often female, are frequently shown from behind, or turned away from the viewer. What struck me immediately about Khana’s work, but also about her social media posts and her face in photographs, was a sense of sincerity. While it isn’t easily defined, it’s a quality you can sense at once. Her replies to my interview questions only reinforced this impression.
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