Dan Perkins and Zuriel Waters
Dawn Chorus
June 2 - 27, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, June 5th 6-8 PM

Deanna Evans Projects is pleased to present a two-person exhibition, Dawn Chorus, with Dan Perkins and Zuriel Waters from June 2 – 27, 2026 with an opening reception on June 5th from 6-8pm. The title Dawn Chorus refers to the burst of birdsong at daybreak. While the exact reason birds begin each day this way remains uncertain, there is a quiet beauty in their repetition and consistency, much like a painter returning to the studio as part of a daily practice.

Dan Perkins’ work draws on architectural motifs that suggest movement through space: crossing a threshold, gazing through a window, passing from one plane to another. Yet these spaces depicted exist within an ethereal haze, where color and form take precedence. Scale, time and space remain fluid, and up to the viewer to interpret and define for themselves.

Perkins works in series, developing compositional pairs and triads that explore color and light as both expressive and descriptive forces. A subtle tension emerges between the structure of geometry and the fluidity of light, creating a compelling paradox. Material and atmosphere begin to merge, and the solidity of bodily experience seems to loosen, opening onto a more expansive way of sensing the world. The paintings shimmer and beckon, inviting the viewer to enter their space and linger.

Zuriel Waters’ works are constructed entirely from sewn fabric and acrylic paint, without a wooden support, resulting in an exceptionally flat surface. They are mounted to the wall using small dress pins and eye hooks sewn into the facing, emphasizing their lightness and adaptability. Shaped by the constraints of the artist’s studio, each piece is engineered to fold for storage, with every iteration carefully designed to fit into a box that holds roughly a year’s worth of work. In this way, the pieces maximize wall presence while minimizing storage demands.

Each piece emerges through an iterative process that carries traces of both the time of year and the artist’s temporal psychological condition. Rooted in seasonality, the works can be understood in dialogue with fashion, drawing on color gathered from the artist’s daily walks through the neighborhood. In this way, they also engage a kind of constructivist reduction of the urban environment, evoking a contemporary, almost futurist approach to landscape.

Seen together in this exhibition, the works encourage an appreciation for the act of making itself. A bird does not need a reason to sing, just as a painter does not need a reason to paint; both are driven by an inner compulsion, a quiet insistence to create.

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Dan Perkins lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received his MFA from American University. He has shown at Rachel Uffner, Deanna Evans Projects, Sperone Westwater, Hashimoto Contemporary, Launch F18, Mana Contemporary, and elsewhere. His work is held in the collections of Capital One, Fidelity Investments, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Katzen Museum of American University, as well as in many private collections. His work has been featured in Juxtapoz Magazine, Booooooom, Wired Italia, Art of Choice, Archive 00, Two Coats of Paint, Artsy, ArtMaze Mag, and the Washington Post.

Zuriel Waters was born in 1984 in Philadelphia, PA, and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Received an MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2010 and a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from San Diego State University in 2007. Has shown work in group exhibitions throughout New York City at galleries such as Underdonk, CANADA, Tappeto Volante and others and has recently had solo shows at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts and My Pet Ram.