Cydney M. Lewis

Cydney M. Lewis
Chicago, Illinois, USA

STATEMENT

Through the transformation and manipulation of materials, I consider the intersection of the natural, spiritual, and scientific worlds that reflect on our consumer society. Walking the streets of my community, I saw needles, synthetic hair, and colorful plastic bags gathering on the ground and blowing in the trees. This landscape is full of meaning–these are artifacts that reflect all the things we consume and waste without thinking of the consequences. Amongst the debris there is also nature’s beauty, perseverance and the ability to adapt within this landscape; through my work, I ask how we as humans might also coexist in harmony.

Pattern, repetition, and constant movement form the foundation of my drawings, sculpture and installations. I weave together images of nature, technology and the human body into landscapes that make the real surreal. Using the hands to reinvent, honors something familiar and intentional. Yet at the same time, envisioning something new in the intersectionality of these materials documents the record of our being here, at this time in this place.

My work walks between those places, reimagining the materials, artifacts and landscapes, reflecting on their coexistence, the potential for mutual destruction, and bearing hope that we morph into a new form.

BIO

Cydney Lewis is a Chicago-based multimedia artist with a distinguished multidisciplinary background. She began in architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where she received a BS in Architectural Studies; she also attended the L’École D’architecture de Versailles, France. The fluidity of her ability to transform materials reflects her mastery of ballet as well as her endeavors in film. Her art is held in private collections around the world, and has been exhibited widely, at venues including the Union League Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, and The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. She has received various honors, among them residencies with Chicago Public Schools and Lyseloth Musikerwohnhaus Basel, Switzerland, as well as awards including 3Arts Make A Wave grantee, Best in Show at Governor State University and the Black Creativity/Green Art Award from the Museum of Science and Industry. Currently, she is a member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid of Chicago.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
www.cydneylewis.com

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