Lewis’ work presents multiple views of an object, frustrating basic connotations in order to reveal an expanded view of its complexities. Depicting items such as bricks, cement blocks, textiles, or pieces of text in the midst of a slippage, the meaning carried by a word or phrase slides from one idea to another. Lewis’ work embodies formation and disintegration, familiarity and uncertainty, employing repetitive time-consuming methods of production, such as printmaking processes and embroidery, to engage with the subject matter. Her production methods question the distinction between making and building, and offer commentary on the labor, work ethic, and transformations that emerge through working processes.
J. Myszka Lewis received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She has exhibited work nationally and abroad. She is one-third of the feminist art group SPOOKY BOOBS COLLECTIVE and is a curator at Tandem Press.
