Gina Marie Lewis is a mixed media artist and educator. She holds an MFA in painting from Howard University and a BA in Cultural Studies and Studio Art from Norwich University. Lewis’ work is a reflection of her perception of being. Lewis studied with such artist as James Phillips, E. Sorrells Adewale, and Michael B. Platt. She is influenced by the philosophies, processes and artwork of Eva Hesse, Romare Bearden, Sam Gilliam, Sol Lewitt, David Smith, Georgia O’Keefe, Donald Judd, Martin Puryear, and Yayoi Kusama.
Among the group exhibitions in which Lewis was included are, the NEW POWER GENERATION 2005 and the COMMON GROUND, UNCOMMON VISION exhibitions at the Hampton University Museum; and MIGRATIONS OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Lewis was also shown in a solo exhibition of her installation Conversation Among Blues Women, held during the Reclaiming Midwifes historical exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Museum. Her mural The Next Sunrise, a site specific commissioned work installed in 2004, is prominently featured at the Howard University Hospital.
She is inspired by the construction of transformational experiences through art utilizing space in its broadest interpretations; the process of creating environments within architecturally interesting spaces; art as a function of human spirituality; the existence of art in nature and nature in art; nature as an environment, material and inspiration in art; and the interdependent relationships of humanity to what is seen and unseen within their environment. Lewis has developed a process of using materials to create two and three-dimensional painted constructions, in the shapes of boxes and waves, scrolls and suspended objects, emerging from the desire to create atmosphere within environments. In this way she continues to explore the creation of space, fragmenting space, and interrupting space through compositions and arrangements of objects. Working in many different materials, including paint, plaster, paper and mylar her work depends upon minimal relationships between these elements. She seeks to advance an open approach to art that allows the answers to “what is next,” to develop through the process of creating the work.
