User:Exposedartist/sandbox

= Early Life and Education = Tau Lewis was was born in 1993. Lewis is Jamaican-Canadian and lives and works in Toronto. Before her career as an artist, she briefly attended journalism school, but she strongly disliked it and decided to pursue art on a self taught means of education.

= Artistic Career =

Installation at Frieze New York
Lewis’s work was displayed at the Frieze Art Fair in New York in 2018. Her work was featured in a  booth by Toronto gallery, Cooper Cole. Lewis’s figurative sculptures explore black identity and diaspora through her artistic technique of found object assemblages. The installation consisted of seven figurative sculptures on the carpet floor of a square booth painted with pastel aquamarine and light purple-pink walls. Each of the seven sculptures are portraits meant to draw connections to the black body. The Cooper Cole booth featuring Lewis’s work won the 2018 Fame Prize at the Frieze Art Fair.

when you last found me here
Beginning in June, Tau Lewis was the 2018 Stonecroft Foundation Artist-in-Residence hosted by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre with support from the Stonecroft Foundation for the Arts and the Queen’s University Department of Gender Studies and Visual Art programs. Over the course of Lewis’ 13 week stay in Kingston, Ontario, she partook in a variety of community outreach initiatives including art workshops, guest lectures, and engagements with racialized girls through Roots and Wings. In her personal and professional interactions, Lewis promoted the importance of race and gender in art, and the power of diverse storytelling.

Simultaneously, Lewis also aided in the installation of her exhibit when last you found me here at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre which was named the first institutional solo exhibition in Canada. Held from August 25, 2018 - December 2, 2018, when last you found me here was a collection of humanoid sculptures made from Lewis personal collection of found objects and materials. Through these works, Lewis called attention to the complexities of black histories in North America and created a conscious attempt to both reclaim them and honor her ancestors. The exhibition is a collection of stories, represented by sculptures who appear to be conversing in a circle, each referencing facets of black identity. The works were also referred to as ‘time capsules’ as they each contain an item of importance to Lewis never to be known by her audience.

Landscapes
Lewis’ sculptures are deeply inspired by her surrounding environment, as she collects both synthetic and organic objects as material. Through this practice, Lewis says she is “building portraits of the landscape that are also telling stories about Black identity.” Having constructed each sculpture from specific parts of the world around her, she consciously displays her ideas regarding the connections between black bodies and landscapes.

Yard Art
The materiality of Lewis’ work is heavily influenced by Yard Art, a style created by African American communities in the southern United States. Black artists created Yard Art pieces from found objects in attempt to conceal each piece’s identity as artwork in a dangerous time period for them to practice their craft. Similarly, Lewis implements the use of found objects in her art, sometimes as an allusion to this aspect of black history.

Identity and the Grotesque
Lewis work revolves around her identity as a black, queer woman. She often cites her unique connection with blackness in her work, especially as someone who identifies as both Jamaican and white Canadian. Understanding that there is an immense erasure of Black Canadian narratives in Canada, she uses grotesque forms to captivate viewers and create an opportunity for conversation about these issues. Additionally, she seeks to create her own ideas of black portraiture in her sculpture. Lewis herself stated, “I don’t want to make anymore work that is not inclusive of my identity and my narrative as a Black female. I want to gain autonomy as a black person. I want to define what being a woman is for myself.”

Scavenging and Materials
Lewis’s art practice his strongly influenced by her surrounding which shows through the materials which she collects and uses in her sculptures. She constructs art out of found objects from her environment by repurposing them. Lewis collects items from both rural and urban places, and collects man made objects as well as plants and living organisms. Collecting is something Lewis does all the time, and when she uses them in her art she is considering the history and story of the material.

Living Art
Lewis often addresses her figurative sculptures and dolls as not simply inanimate objects, but real. Due to the labour and care invested in their creation, the sculptures become a portrait of her own personal and historical trauma. The creations are portraits which she is learning to care for and therefore learning to care for herself.

Labour
A core theme of Lewis practice is labour. In the process of making her artwork, Lewis artistic practice is labour-intensive; Lewis often hand sews materials together, carves sculptural elements out of plaster, and hand assembles found objects. This labour-intensive artistic practice creates a strong connection between herself and her works which she often describes not as inanimate objects, but as her children. The labour she invests in her artwork is a therapeutic action which allows her to work through issues in her life.

= Notes =

= References =


 * "Cheyenne Julien & Tau Lewis At Chapter NY – Art Viewer". 2018. Artviewer.Org. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://artviewer.org/cheyenne-julien-tau-lewis-at-chapter-ny/.
 * Gaudreau, Phil. 2018. "Agnes Artist-In-Residence Brings In The Community". Queen's Gazette | Queen's University. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/agnes-artist-residence-brings-community.
 * Halio, Grace. 2018. "Frieze New York Awards 2018 Frame Prize To Cooper Cole -". Artnews. Accessed October 31, 2018. http://www.artnews.com/2018/05/04/frieze-new-york-awards-2018-frame-prize-cooper-cole-gallery/.
 * Hampton, Chris. “‘It’s become a sort of therapy’: Sculptor Tau Lewis makes dolls to recapture self-love and caring.” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. July 14, 2017. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/arts/it-s-become-a-sort-of-therapy-sculptor-tau-lewis-&#x20;makes-dolls-to-recapture-self-love-and-caring-1.4205248
 * Lewis, Tau. “A Conversation with Tau Lewis.” Interviewed by Yaniya Lee. Canadian Art, May 10, 2018. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://canadianart.ca/interviews/a-conversation-with- tau-lewis/
 * Lewis, Tau. 2018. "Info - Tau Lewis". Tau Lewis. http://www.taulewis.com/about.
 * Lewis, Tau. “‘People Are Attracted to Strange’: Sculptor Tau Lewis Finds Inspiration in the Grotesque.” Interviewed by Nancy Won. Flare, September 13, 2017. Accessed on October 31, 2018.  
 * Russak, Iris. 2018. "Tau Lewis, ‘Yard Art’ And Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’S University". Take A Closer Look At Museums, Art Galleries & Historic Sites Of Kingston. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://kingstonmuseumsblog.com/2018/10/01/tau-lewis-yard-art-and-agnes-etherington-art-centre-queens-university/.
 * Sutton, Benjamin. 2018. "The Good, The Bad, And The Forgettable At Frieze New York". Hyperallergic. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://hyperallergic.com/440988/best-and-worst-frieze-new-york-2018/.
 * "Tau Lewis & Curtis Santiago At COOPER COLE, Toronto | Artinfo". 2018. Artinfo. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2413086/tau-lewis-curtis-santiago-at-cooper-cole-toronto.
 * "Tau Lewis: When Last You Found Me Here | Agnes Etherington Art Centre". 2018. Agnes.Queensu.Ca. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://agnes.queensu.ca/exhibition/tau-lewis/.
 * Whyte, Murray. “Tau Lewis: Of roots, and uprooting.” Toronto Star. June 24, 2017. Accessed October 31, 2018. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2017/06/24/tau-lewis-of-&#x20;roots-and-uprooting.html

= External Links =


 * Tau Lewis’ Website

Category:Canadian women artists Category:Women artists Category:21st-century women artists Category:Canadian women sculptors Category:Feminism Category:Feminist artists Category:Contemporary artists Category:Contemporary art Category:Contemporary sculptors Category:Contemporary art awards Category:Queer artists Category:Living people Category:Feminist art Category:Visual arts