Betsy Lewis | The Figure of The Falling
The Artist Talk Was held on September 10th, 2020 at 6pm via Zoom. Watch it here.
“A witness from inside, I tell a lost truth. Cradling stolen moments of breath and bearing the weight of memory, The Figure of the Falling exhibits works that refer to the center: the core, the spine, the gut, and the heart. Metal objects and necklaces point to sites on the body to interpret the impossibilities of telling. Like the armor they have become, these works serve as protection and give testimony to the privacy of night. The heartbeats of these memories are transferred into the stillness of the work, and here I learn to breathe again.”
-Betsy Lewis
Betsy Lewis investigates acts of offering by accumulating signifiers that allude to grief and hope; working together to realize a new form of telling the truth through our bodies. Making objects whose meaning is derived from the weight of memories and the methods we use to instill objects with meaning Lewis tends to use traditional silversmith techniques such as hollow forming, forging, and fabrication. Doing so establishes historical tension by asserting these methods’ value in a contemporary studio context.
Contributing actively to the field Betsy Lewis has held assistantship and teaching positions at Maine College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Brooklyn Metalworks, and SUNY New Paltz, the latter of which she received her Master in Fine Art. Lewis currently lives and works in New York City.
