The subject of the exhibition, Paternal Instinct, is one that has intrigued the artist for many years from an artistic and a sociological point of view. Artworks heralding the Maternal Instinct – in both the secular and the religious context – have held a central place in Western art for centuries.  The magnificent Madonnas and Mary Cassatt paintings of mothers and children are expressive testaments to this bond.  Against  this backdrop is the dearth of paintings of men as loving, actively engaged fathers.  Portrayals of men with their children have largely been limited to formal family portraits devoid of emotive power or spontaneous interaction.  Yet, anyone who has watched a father cradle his newborn in his arms knows that the Paternal Instinct is powerful.  Perhaps precisely because men have had much less time to spend with their children than women have had, the moments of rapt involvement are particularly compelling images.   In those moments, the outside world is still, the circle complete, the bond immutable. Evalenko’s new oils fill the artistic void, communicating the universal through the transformation of the particular.