Nate Lewis
Nate Lewis
Workspace Program Resident 2018
Since I have had no formal art training, Dieu Donné is the first time I was in a setting with consistent instruction and collaboration. Being that my work has been focused within paper—transforming it and exploring its nuances—I knew that this material had endless possibilities. However, I wasn’t sure how those possibilities would mirror anything within my process or how I could expand upon this in my practice
Being in this studio has both transformed and expanded my way of thinking. Master Collaborator Tatiana Ginsberg’s understanding of my artistic process was so instrumental in making the work that we did. It was as if we were always on the same page. Tatiana was always pushing me to go outside of my comfort zone when experimenting with different materials as well as colors and wanted to make sure I didn’t leave anything out that might contribute to our final body of work.
During this residency I was able to incorporate elements of printmaking, hand-formed paper pulp, and molded sculptures while also experimenting with painterly expressions I’ve never before attempted. I’ve done so many new things in this residency that encouraged exciting progressions. Dieu Donné understands that the potential of paper is endless and strives to continually explore this.
—Nate Lewis, 2018
Nate Lewis’ artistic practice is dedicated to transforming, sculpting, and understanding the nuances and anatomy of paper. His go-to tool is the blade, which he uses to carve, cut and pick--slowly creating layers of intricate sculpture out of single sheets of paper. Lewis’ background as a critical care registered nurse becomes apparent after observing his surgical handling of the paper and great care he gives to each precise cut. For Lewis, anatomy and physiology is the lens in which he envisions his ideas—a representative way of understanding history, and a fragile, vulnerable, and intimate way of comprehending humanity.
At Dieu Donné, Lewis strived to truly test the versatility of paper and explore its materiality various techniques. He began by inking up and layering embroidered fabrics onto couched cotton pulp. He then pressed these fibers together, resulting in a delicate embossment. Embedded pieces of patterned fabric drape down from several of these bodily sculptures, resembling a delicate slice of an organ. Wet strips of cotton pulp were hand-molded to further resemble anatomical components. These cotton sculptures blur the line between an expected anatomical structure and an abstracted human body. Lewis’ final body of work speaks to the disjointed human form, urging the viewer to try to piece it all together.
In the Studio
About the Artist
Nate Lewis (b. 1985) works between New York and Washington, D.C. Lewis’ current practice is focused within using paper and ink. Combining elements of drawing, photography, etching, and embroidery, his large-scale “paper sculptures” were conceived while the artist was working as a critical care nurse, Lewis treats paper like an organism, sculpting patterns and textures akin to anatomical structures and cellular tissue. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University and practiced critical-care nursing in DC-area hospitals for nine years. Lewis’ first artistic pursuit was playing the violin in 2008, followed by drawing in 2010.
His work has been exhibited at the California African American Museum, New York’s 1:54 Art Fair, Spring Break Art Show, Expo Chicago, The Yale Center for British Art, 21C Museum Hotels, and the Studio Museum of Harlem. In 2019, he will show at The Yale Center for British Art, The Armory Art Fair, and The California African American Museum in Los Angeles.
Past residencies include Pioneer Works and Dieu Donne. Lewis’ work is in the public collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Grinnell College Museum of Art, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Austin at Texas, and 21c Museum Hotels. He has lectured at Yale University as part of Claudia Rankine’s Racial Imaginary Institute, the Yale Center for British Art, and Paris Photo. Since 2017, the artist has lived and worked in New York City and is represented by the Fridman Gallery. (Source: Fridman Gallery)
For more information, please visit their website: http://natelewisart.com/