Kate Lewis is a practising painter who has been living, working and creating in Naarm/Melbourne for more than nine years, and is currently undergoing a Masters in Contemporary Art at the VCA. Utilising oil on wood, Kate engages with her playful painting process introspectively, endeavouring to convey how a place feels rather than offering an explicit representation. She is interested in landscape at both a macro and micro level. Manipulating perspective, light, colour, angles and scale are key considerations of the painting process for Kate.
Who are your favourite Australian artists?
A huge range of Australian artists inspire me! Probably a little corny but the modern greats have always drawn my attention such as Margaret Preston, Sidney Nolan, Albert Namatjira, Grace Cossington Smith, Brett Whitely, John Olson and Fred Williams. As well as, contemporaries like John Wolseley, Lucy Culliton, Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu, Tom Polo, Elizabeth Cummings, Tony Albert, Luke Sciberras and so many more.
Hey Kate! When did you first get into painting?
Artmaking has been a constant all my life! attending art camps in my primary school summer holidays, I was a very fidgety fiddly little kid that liked using my hands to create things - painting, sewing, drawing, weaving, dying fabrics, pressing flowers or making found object sculptures - I used artmaking as a way to visually communicate and connect, and I still do!
Could you tell me a bit about your favourite subject matter and the meaning behind it?
Landscapes for sure! Escapism and the natural world are concerns that shape the aesthetics of all my paintings and consume my consciousness. Dreamlike landscapes that translate nature, organic matter and wildlife. My art is about communicating fleeting moments from within our intricate ecosystems as I see them or one might experience them. My landscapes allude to the idea of passages, transgress time and hopefully transport the viewer. A flattened use of perspective makes my landscapes both aerial and subterranean at the same time. My artworks have depth and reveal the texture of an experience.
The horses were hungry,
Oil on wood.
50 x 40 cm
What is your favourite colour/tone of paint?
Considering my work is quite colourful, I really love organic and natural pigments such as:
Raw sienna
Unbleached titanium
Yellow ocher
Green gold
Burnt umber
How do you manage a work-life balance as an artist, and how do you make sure you have time to create?
I am possibly the worst person to ask about this! I can be very tunnel vision when it comes to my art and/or personal life. It helps to remember no one thinks they nail this in any profession! I am undoubtedly very lucky to be able to prioritise my artmaking as it encompasses my life - wrapping up my current studies, being a primary source of income and my main creative outlet, although this can make it hard to create on demand and draws some of the fun out of it.
What is your advice for other young artists?
If making art is the only thing you can do that feels right, if it drains you and fills you up all at once, if you lose all sense of time making it - then just don’t stop, in any capacity that is available to you!
Do not stress about having a distinct style or a narrative worth exploring - that will come. Share your art with the world because you never know who it might resonate with. It doesn’t matter if art is your first or fifth priority as long as you’re taking time to create then your art is priceless.
