Photo by Steve Larson

Lacey Lewis paints images of the human form to create narratives that fuse contemporary and traditional ideas. Focusing almost completely on women as her subject, she often incorporates historical or religious themes to evoke familiar sentiments and relate them to the modern world. Her nudes supersede the typical figure-as-still-life or landscape that dominates the genre, and instead emphasizes the individuality and psyche of the model through theatrical poses and dramatic lighting.
Working primarily in oil and graphite, Lewis employs traditional techniques and is committed to the revival of realist standards and archival methods. She often begins with a detailed drawing of the figure in graphite before sketching the composition onto a canvas or panel to be painted. Lewis employs various practices used by old and contemporary masters of painting depending on the desired result.

While Lewis maintains a constant presence in the art world by participating in juried exhibitions across the country and presenting at least one solo-exhibition per year in the Midwest, she also commits a liberal amount of time to educating the public about the importance of art and art education through in-person and online presentations. She is passionate about handing-down expertise she has gained studying artists that came before her and teaches art privately and though frequent classes and workshops. Lewis also works closely with an apprentice in her downtown Kansas City, KS studio where she helps draw attention to the area’s budding arts community as a complement to the popular Crossroads District in Kansas City, MO.

Biography

After focusing primarily on portrait commissions for several years, Lacey Lewis gained local recognition with the solo exhibition of her narrative series, “Repression and Revelation.” She continues to focus on narrative figurative themes in her classically-styled oils, mixing contemporary and conventional concepts in a traditional medium. In Lewis’ upcoming series to be unveiled fall 2009, Lewis explores the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins, challenging herself with both subject matter and scale, as these canvases average 6ft x 4ft in size.

Although Lewis graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in art, she credits her extensive knowledge of realistic drawing and painting technique and history to her independent studies and access to resources including books, museums, and the internet. She’s studied such varied sources as the writings of DaVinci, student accounts from the 1800’s, and Munsell’s model of color space.

Her paintings continue to receive accolades regionally and nationally through inclusion in juried exhibitions, most notably in the prestigious Salmagundi Club’s 31st Annual Non-Member’s Exhibition in New York City. A feature highlighting Lewis’s most recent solo exhibition, “Feminae,” was published in Review last August, followed closely by her inclusion in an October article in the Kansas City Star focusing on the growing arts community in Kansas City, KS. Lewis has received honors including a 2007 Mini-Fellowship from the Kansas Arts Commission, the Lawrence Art Guild’s Career Opportunity Grant, and was invited to display her painting, Cris, in Governor Sebelius’s private conference room at the Kansas Statehouse in 2006.