Chris Lewis

Chris Lewis was born and raised in the scenically deficient Florida panhandle, in a small farm town nowhere near the beach. She received her BS degree from Florida State University in Art Education in 1972. Having no interest in teaching, she moved to Atlanta soon after graduation to pursue a career in Illustration. After two relatively short stints as an art director, first at Turner Outdoor, and then at Weltin Advertising, she became a freelance illustrator. During her fourteen year career she enjoyed national and regional clients ranging from Fisher Price Toys to Equifax, and advertised her work in national publications. In the early 80’s she married John Johnson, the man of her dreams, and had two sons, Hayes and Drew. Eventually her intense freelance career collided with childrearing, and she decided to take the lowest paying most under-appreciated job of her life by becoming president of her own home management team. As her children have become self sufficient, she has embarked on an exciting new adventure as a sculpture artist working in clay.

Working in clay was a natural outgrowth for me from advertising illustration. Although both professions are outlets for creative expression, illustration involves limits inherent in the need to sell a product, whereas working with clay allows me to explore personal objectives.

I have always been fascinated by people, so my work is usually figurative, and involves some exploration of human emotion. Faces, especially those hidden by masks, or figures that seem to be one thing but upon deeper investigation, appear to be something else, are the main subjects of my sculpture.

My pieces are handbuilt using slab, coil, or pinchpot construction. I enjoy the process of manipulating the wet clay to shape the form, then creating texture, and accentuating the finished product with layers of color. Sometimes I incorporate other media such as a stick, a feather, a bead. I often do multiple firings both high and low, atmospheric and electric, incorporating a variety of clays and surface treatments ranging from commercial glazes and underglazes to oxides and slips.

EXHIBITIONS:

2001: “Origins,” Barbara Archer Gallery, Atlanta
2002: “Thrive,” Georgia Perimeter College, Atlanta
2003: “Shadows: Interrupted Light,” Genema Gallery, Atlanta
“Not Just Another Pretty Face,” Fine Arts Gallery Seminole Community College, Sanford Florida (Second Place Award)
“Emergence,” Fine Arts Gallery Kennesaw State University
2004: “Infusion,” The Defoor Center