Nate Lewis Delves Deeper with “Tuning the Signals” at Vielmetter Los Angeles

On February 8 in Los Angeles, artist Nate Lewis debuted an inaugural solo presentation with Vielmetter Los Angeles, currently on view through March 29. “Tuning the Signals” beckons visitors on a spellbinding journey through 12 sculpted works on paper and a lyrical video piece of organic and cultural harmonies. Highly distinguished for his signature practice of layering photography, painting, drawing, paper sculpting, and printmaking in tactile and cellular artworks, Lewis draws perceptively from his experience as a critical care nurse. Elements of X-ray imaging and lyrical capoeiristas unite to the melody of “Symphony No. 1 Afro-American Symphony” in creations pulsing with historical acts of cultural resistance. New video “A Clandestine Exchange” beguiles alongside the song “Any Train We Can Catch” by Ben Lamar Gay, inviting viewers into a playful and kinetic universe of miniature figure paper doll capoeiristas. 

Whitewall had the opportunity to speak to the masterful Lewis about pursuing diverse ways of making, the joy of collaborating with friends, and the importance of keeping the mind porous and agile. 

WW: How would you describe your creative practice?

NATE LEWIS: My creative practice changes through the years. It has different seasons. That’s necessary for growth in my practice. As I get to know myself better I also become more playful and open with my practice to experiment and pursue more diverse ways of making. The more I play and understand the ethos and process in which I think and make from the easier it is to translate ways of making to different materials and ideas. 

“My creative practice changes through the years. It has different seasons,”

Nate Lewis

WW: Can you tell us about the kinds of materials you are drawn to? 

NL: Paper as a material and surface has been the centerpiece of my practice since I started making art. However, there is nothing like going into a fabric shop. All the patterns, textiles, surfaces and imagery. Always inspiring and generative for me. I work with fabrics in my work as a surface for various printmaking processes. Also, there is nothing like going into a bead shop for me. This one makes sense of my processes in sculpting the paper and how painting is oriented towards individual mark making and cellular patterns and clusters but also is very musical to me as well. The relationship is there and they are also very inspiring to me. 

WW: Tell us about your color palette? What tones are you drawn to?

NL: This last body of work I’ve been drawn to muted tones. The painting is done with ink diluted in water so I like to capture the complex nature of the ink. It feels natural, biological. I’ve been drawn to rust reds and browns as the anchor in the pieces. I think I’m drawn to these tones because they feel like the landscape to me or the core of the earth. I also started using a deep blue as the color in which I do these specific cuts that I’ve only done in black in the past. It adds a lot of vibrancy to the work and resonates more with the color palette that I’ve been using. 

“Turning the Signals” is an Hypnotic Voyage at Vielmetter Los Angeles 

WW: What was the starting point for this exhibition?

NL: This exhibition took a turn for me. It ended up not being the show I planned for. This is due to a painting method that I recently developed. The painting method encouraged the works to be smaller and tighter/denser. I ended up withholding a lot of the processes that I’ve been exploring for the past few years and allowed the painting to fulfill the role that all the multiple processes I was working with did except in a cleaner way. This in turn influenced the three channel video piece that is on view in the exhibition as well. It’s tighter than my last one. I felt less was more for this one.

“This exhibition took a turn for me. It ended up not being the show I planned for,”

Nate Lewis

WW: Can you tell us about how visitors will move through the space? What do you hope they experience?

NL: My work draws people in. The closer one gets the more is revealed to them and it just keeps unfolding until the viewer’s eye is inspecting the surface like a detective.

Subtle nuances show themselves depending on what side one is on of the piece and the viewer can watch the piece change as they walk past it. After seeing the works on paper I encourage everyone to see my three channel video piece A Clandestine Exchange. It plays in a loop and is five minutes long.

You could get lost in a trance in the video, it’s a bit hypnotizing because of the imagery and also the soundtrack, but it’s also gentle and calm. 

WW: Was there something new you explored for this show?

NL: Yes, the new painting method that I started using is new to this show. It very much resonates and mirrors the cuts and sculpts in the work. There’s a new vibration happening in this work that I’m really excited about and is the beginning of a new chapter for me. The work really feels home now. There’s an instinct in which I’m painting from that feels familiar, feels like me, feels like the frequency in which I create from. 

“There’s a new vibration happening in this work that I’m really excited about,”

Nate Lewis

With the video piece I collaborated with two friends of mine who are Capoeiristas who I trained with when I first started learning Capoeira when I lived in DC. Abhayam Kalu and Antonio Nwozo. They are both incredible people and capoeiristas. Antonio developed a brilliant method of translating his own physical Capoeira skills to these miniature figure paper dolls. In which he can perform the Capoeira movements with the dolls and create scenarios with them as if they are ‘playing’ one another. It’s brilliant and masterful. I filmed and incorporated footage of him playing with the dolls in the video. 

For me it was a new way of exploring and thinking about movement. Which is a theme that I continue to explore in my work and especially video work. I’m very grateful to Abhayam and Antonio as well as Dorchel Haqq and Cemiyon Barber who are the movers/dancers the subjects of the imagery I continue to work with. 

The Harmonious Creative Process and Art Studio of Nate Lewis 

WW: Where do you typically begin with an artwork?

NL: With the works on paper the starting point for my work is the photos of the figures in which I photograph. That determines which way the composition will go and also the flow and movement of the painting. The video piece was started from a place of concept and I built it out from there. It’s almost as if there were many different starting points for it because they all intersect.

WW: Can you tell us about your studio?

NL: I’m really grateful for my studio. I have a big wall of windows with more space to grow into. Over the past few years I had a lot of different works on the wall which were a lot of studies with various processes working with paper and print methods. I recently took most of them down and am a lot more focused on where I am with my work now. My favorite part of my studio is the little kitchen area with a fridge, pantry, and a little moving island where I prepare my food each day. Being able to eat well makes me feel energized and comfortable.

“I’m really grateful for my studio,” 

Nate Lewis

WW: What is a typical day like for you there?

NL: I usually get in and handle some admin things and then I get right to it. If it’s a day where I have to paint. Then I’ll do a little warm up with the colors and find a flow for the specific piece that I’m workin with. By the time I get to my studio I’ve done a morning routine and I’m ready to dive in. I try to work until 6 most days. I often want a little 15 – 30 min nap in the middle of the day after lunch. 

WW: Is there an element of your creative process you make sure to do each day?

NL: I would say it would be my own physical movement. It’s something that I have done seriously and intentionally since I’ve been young. When I started making art which was a little more than a decade ago. I realized that understanding the kinetics of my body in various disciplines of movement was part of my foundation in which I see and take in the world. It also keeps my mind porous and agile. 

WW: What are you working on next in the studio?

NL: I’m deepening my relationship with color and painting. This new body of work was just an introduction to me for where the works on paper can go.