Art Gazing : 3.6.26 - Evan Ross x Chrys Seawood : LIVIN’ PROOF (Special Edition)
4/23/26
This is a special one folks!!! Switching things up slightly for this installment… Usually I’m the one taking the pics, while gazing at art I’ve never seen before. This time, DC based photographer, Shaughn Cooper (@shaughncooper), took the photos, while I get to walk you through LIVIN’ PROOF, a collaboration by myself (Evan Ross) & Chrys Seawood.
LIVIN’ PROOF was on view from March 5 - 28, 2026, at Chela Mitchell Gallery (Washington, DC). The show explores sneaker culture at a moment of maturity—when what began as community expression has grown into cultural inheritance. Basketball & Hip-hop’s evolution over five decades mirrors the arc of sneaker culture - once hyper-local and community-driven, now global and generational.
Within this exhibition, the sneaker is framed as a relic, holding the sacred traces of time and use; as an object of reverence, carrying emotional and cultural value; and as a record, documenting identity and lived experience. It functions as a memory device, storing personal and collective histories.
My large scale photographs, isolate my worn sneakers, honoring them as historical artifacts with space, stillness and care. I used a stark white backdrop, inspired by Product (e-commerce/look book) photography, to show that the worn shoes are just as valuable, if not more, because of the value added from my lived experience. Unexpected angles and compositions force the viewer to look again. Like a museum-goer panning dinosaur fossils, I shot the sneakers from multiple vantage points to render a new perspective and reveal a new part of the story.
My presentation, Sole Cycle, included 25 images, 3 large prints (36x48), 22 images applied using wheatpaste (4 images - grid format [36 x 48], 6 images [18 x 27], 12 images [8.5 x 14]). The use of wheatpaste is a nod to guerrilla marketing and how these items are marketed and promoted to us, across genres (sneakers, sports, music, etc.). My choice to photograph these specific sneakers was due to their historical importance, as well as their personal significance to me.
The three main sneakers: “Bred” Jordan 4s, “Neon” Air Max 95s, and the “Eggplant” Air Foamposite, in my eyes, are all pivotal markers in the timeline of the sneaker culture evolution. With the Jordan 4 being the centerpiece, I envisioned the presentation of the series as an unboxing. Through this work, I wanted to immortalize them, preserving both their cultural relevance and personal meaning.
Seawood’s untitled sculptural installation expands this reverence into monumental form— standing at 13’1 ft (18’7 x 6’1 x 13’1 ft to be exact), the artist used milk crates and zip ties to create wire-bound sneaker towers, mirroring urban city landscapes. Adorned with worn basketball sneakers, collected through donations from her community, the size of the structure invites you to explore, looking at each shoe, from different angles, to find the hidden meanings throughout. Basketballs were also included, inhabiting some of the milk crates, as easter eggs for the viewer to discover while exploring, (and checking off your list on the scavenger hunt, created by Seawood). At the rear of the structure, a TV screen is located, playing on loop, classic basketball sneaker commercials, showing how over time, more and more of “our” culture was used to sell these items, specifically targeting certain demographics
The materials used speak to the ingenuity and resilience of the environments that have been historically tasked with “making do” with limited means. These places birthed and fostered the storytellers that have fueled these industries and cultures with our patronage and connoisseurship, and still continue to. No coincidence that milk crates are commonly used as seats in many urban neighborhoods - sometimes it was a basketball hoop, as well as a way to organize and transport records safely, (as many DJs used to travel with numerous crates to play events before the advent of dj controllers and software) showing just how resourceful we are.
Around the structure, tape was placed strategically, like out of bounds lines on a basketball court, to give the art and viewers some boundaries. It also was a space designated to leave a message, a word, or phrase that came to mind while viewing.
Thank you to all that came to view the show, all who sent their love and support, all who , liked, commented and shared posts online, I’m truly grateful. Thank you to Shaughn Cooper for the images! Big thanks to my collaborator, Chrys Seawood (@chrys.seawood), I really appreciate your energy and support throughout the whole process. We did it!!! Another big thanks to Chela Mitchell (@chelamitchellgallery) for your space, time, and belief in the work. Very proud of what we accomplished together!!!
I will be posting more about the happenings during the show, so stay tuned!!!
