Nate Lewis’ intricately carved works on paper reflect his experience as a critical-care nurse and challenge perspectives on race and history. Treating the paper like an organism itself, he sculpts patterns and textures akin to cellular tissue and uncovers anatomies of the photographed subjects. His works bring together the application of medical diagnostics and its visual language, exploration of granularity of photographic images and paper, responses to the current political landscape, and appreciation of the critical role of sound and music, specifically jazz, as conduits to connecting shared histories and futures.
Lewis’ solo exhibitions include The Armory Show, Fridman Gallery, New York, NY (2019); Expo Chicago, Fridman Gallery, Chicago, IL (2018); Mosaic Project, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Lancaster, PA (2017); and Tensions in Tapestries, Morton Fine Art, Washington DC (2017). His work has been featured in several group exhibitions, including: Dress Up, Speak Up: Regalia and Resistance, 21 C Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio (2019); Men of Change, Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibition Services, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (2019); Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction Of The Black & Hispanic Body In Contemporary Art, Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, Florida (2018); and Legacy Of The Cool: A Tribute To Barkely Hendricks, Bakalar & Paine Galleries, Mass College of Art & Design, Boston, Massachusetts (2018).
