In the studio of Peter Wayne Lewis

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VOLUME=20 1, ISSUE 26 | July / August, 2007

Viva / Profile

In the studio of Peter Wayne = Lewis

An interview by RUTH HARDINGER and C. MICHAEL = norton

Luminous swathes of color dance on canvases ganged = together=20 forming rectangular grids that cover most of the walls of = Lewis=92s=20 studio. A large table crowds the center of the space, = another holds=20 a mountain of worked brushes and squeezed paint tubes = suggestive of=20 the gritty materiality. We are engulfed by the presence and = scale of=20 the large paintings, partly because we can only stand a few = feet=20 back from them. Peter picks up a photo of an aged Caribbean = woman in=20 a flower-printed dress.

PETER WAYNE LEWIS; = This is my=20 grandmother, who passed away at 98 last year. We [her = family] talked=20 about immortalizing her, I suggested that I mix some of her = ashes=20 with my paint. [He shows the ashes.]

RUTH = HARDINGER:=20 That=92s power! It=92s not going to be a portrait of = her, is=20 it?

PWL: It=92s about her essence and the = spirit that=20 was left after her flesh died. Painting is always about = breathing=20 life into inanimate materials; it fuses a spirit or entity = into an=20 object.

C. MICHAEL Norton: What is her = heritage? Was=20 she Jamaican? Where do you come from?

PWL: My=20 grandmother was Jamaican of Portuguese, African, German, and = English=20 descent; the thing about the Caribbean is that it=92s always = been a=20 melting pot. I was born in Jamaica, and I lived there nine = years=20 before we migrated to Panama and California.

RH: = The=20 =93High Times, Hard Times=94 catalogue [of an exhibition = about art of=20 the late 1960s and early 1970s] discusses Howardina = Pindell=92s work=20 being dismissed at the Studio Museum of Harlem because it = wasn=92t=20 black enough =97 the concept [being] that black artists = should do art=20 about black cultural issues

PWL: In my = painting I=92m=20 always trying to transcend race and culture. I am aware of = cultural=20 and racial issues and differences, but have chosen to look = into the=20 nature of the substances that build the world of appearances = that we=20 call existence. Light is an essential part of this=20 equation.

RH: But, art history has held many=20 non-Western artists =96 and their artistic traditions =97 on = the=20 outside.

PWL: The ruling class of art = politics! If=20 it=92s not painters that fall into a rubric, like Jackson = Pollock,=20 they fall out of the pail.

Artaud once said that culture does not exist in museums; = it=92s in=20 our bodies, our blood, bones, and the fluidity of our = nerves. I want=20 to get inside the nerves, the double helix, and use this as = a portal=20 to the beginning. That=92s the only way I know to make = objects that=20 carry meaning.

CMN: Your work was much denser = when you=20 first got to New York. Now you=92ve lightened it. Your touch = is softer=20 and more fluid. How did you get there?

PWL: = You=92re in=20 a unique position because you=92ve seen my earlier work. = Here=92s the=20 question: Does one accept one=92s sense of the self or does = one=20 address different facets of one=92s personality?

It=92s like I wanted to take on the New York School =97 = its specific=20 language and trajectory. I was raised on Pollock, Rothko, = Kline, De=20 Kooning, and wanted to see if it was possible to work within = this=20 language and create something fresh. One of my mentors, Fred = Spratt,=20 said: =93Peter, you cannot break new ground, it=92s all = broken, but if=20 you look into the fissures of the cracks in the ground, = maybe there=20 are some opportunities there.=94

I knew instinctively, formally, spiritually, = aesthetically, how=20 to make a painting, and I was getting big hits on it. Paying = homage=20 to New York, I was going to the Art Mecca, and I was going = to duke=20 it out with these cats, and not just as a game. It was like=20 retooling.

CMN: It is about obtaining some=20 satisfaction and doing a chase, with the goal in mind, and = then when=20 you get that goal you have to overtake it = =85

RH: One of=20 the exciting qualities in your current work is its lushness. = It=92s=20 juicy, very sexual. But it=92s also funny.

CMN: = I love=20 the humor

RH: The classic Abstract = Expressionists were=20 involved in the heroic, the profound, and the non-humorous = =97 except=20 for Philip Guston=92s late work. They were all dead=20 serious.

PWL: Quintessentially, the sublime = can be=20 humorous. That was where everyone wanted to reside =97 = sublime being=20 all; the magnificent horror and beauty of nature and = embracing all=20 of that. There=92s always a duality: One can take oneself = very=20 seriously, but at the same time have serious = fun.

RH:=20 The red nipples in your painting are totally = goofy.

PWL:=20 Red nipples? What you see is your business! (Much = laughter.) I=20 don=92t happen to see red nipples! That=92s not my scene. = Let me suggest=20 something to you: When I saw into this painting, I saw a = Buddha on a=20 lotus with those red forms. Richard Wollenheim, the writer,=20 discusses =93seeing in=94 like a cloud, and conjuring = imagery. You might=20 see Mickey Mouse ears, or a ship. We try to create a symbol = to=20 navigate pictures and understand what we are seeing. =

There=92s a French word, =E9criture, which means writing. = There is a=20 scripting, a language, but there is no lexicon for assigning = =93this=20 is nipple,=94 =93this is this =85 =94

Take what Jasper Johns was doing, he was writing red when = applying green; he was playing this whole business of = signage,=20 language, semiotics. However, it=92s the symbology that one = may see in=20 Johns=92s paintings that I find interesting, even though I = am not=20 painting from a mimetic point of view.

CMN: = What=20 happens for me, Peter, is that I have developed a form of = painting=20 that lets me create a dialogue to explore. It=92s like when = you write=20 a book. You make a draft, and then another draft, and then = you have=20 a story.

PWL: I understand what you are = saying: That=20 there can be a narrative about the painting. My work is not = really=20 about that. Outside of my initial intention I leave myself = open to=20 possibilities, and tap into the wellspring of the human = condition,=20 or the collective unconscious, which is real and = tangible.

Artistic intent =97 if one understands what the artist = intended,=20 there=92s a greater connection. It=92s like an =91ah-ha!=92 = Conversely,=20 artistic intention is only one facet of understanding. Great = paintings have interpretations outside of artistic = intentions. Art=20 is an expansive enterprise outside the maker of these=20 objects.

RH: How do you construct these=20 paintings?

PWL: They are acrylic paintings; I = lay out=20 a sequence of opportunities, in terms of color, in terms of = brushes.=20 When I go to these paintings I think about jazz, I try to = recreate=20 myself every time I pick up the brush. I want to make a = gesture or=20 mark that is brand new for me.

There=92s a vocabulary of form, no question. There is a=20 relationship between the works, there has to be because it = is coming=20 out of me. It=92s not deliberately conscious, I can=92t tell = you exactly=20 that I=92m going to do this and that. I leave myself open = for=20 accidents and the potential of the materials.

RH: = How=20 do you know that brown piece with the red dots on it goes = here=20 versus over there?

PWL: What you are talking = about is=20 sequencing of individual canvases. We are looking at 15 = individual=20 paintings which were made as separate entities. I make one = at a=20 time; probably made 18 pieces this size. Then I sit down and = start=20 sequencing. I determine that I=92m going to make a painting = that has=20 15 units, part of the logic of my paintings is the units of = 9, 12,=20 15, sometimes it=92s 6. I sequence the canvases together to = make a=20 singular painting. How I came to sequencing that one in the=20 right-hand corner is just taste. It just felt right. To get = to this=20 sort of compositional arrangement took me months, because I = sit and=20 sequence.

CMN: What I=92m hearing you say is: = you are=20 comfortable going outside what we consider aesthetics.=20

PWL: I am investigating properties of vision = and how=20 I may be able to look deep inside to connect to the = beginnings of=20 time and the origins of the universe. There is String Theory = that=20 discusses the majesty of existence and the Cosmo. I am = concerned=20 with how to feel the lyrical rhythm of the world. One could = say this=20 is a spiritual covenant. I am trying to reorder a different = notion=20 of what could be beautiful. Maybe that=92s = arrogance.

CMN:=20 I don=92t see that as arrogant, its part of the job and = the work.=20 In spite of the contradiction, there is definitely artistic=20 intent.

PWL: Intention is in my paintings: My = greatest=20 goal is to look deeper and to leave a residue of that = investigation.=20

Peter Wayne Lewis has exhibited his work from = New=20 York to Beijing. He is currently involved in the = Kunstpavillion in=20 Der Neuen Mitte Europas =93Licht und Schatten,=94 = Stachesried, Germany,=20 and is represented by Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art, NYC. He = is=20 chairman of the 2D Department of Art, Massachusetts College = of Art=20 in Boston. Further information may be found at http://www.peterwaynelewis.com/

Ruth=20 Hardinger and C. Michael Norton are artists who also write = about=20 art.

***

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