THE FOCUS

Rachel Bubis: You collect pigments from nature and make your paint. What’s the most interesting or surprising thing you’ve learned about this process? Amanda Brazier: Using earth pigments to create is an ancient practice. With paint making, I’m learning the basics of my trade, fundamentals that have fallen mostly into the background of art education and practice. Before and during the Renaissance, artists (or their apprentices) would have to grind their own rocks and crush dried insects to mak...

Rachel Bubis: In your artist statement you explain, “My fascination with craft is one of the main driving forces in my research and yet is continually at odds with its distance from my personal history.” Could you elaborate? I assume you wouldn’t describe your own work as craft?  Ray Padrón: Craft is a word that carries a lot of baggage, which is why I use it in my statement. Though I would not describe my work as craft,...

Desmond Lewis primarily uses industrial materials in his work as he correlates the invisible appearance of structural materials in buildings with the concealed structural importance of African Americans in the United States. Through the creation of fabricated and carved concrete sculptures, his work abstractly addresses the conversations of race, equality, and community uplift. Additionally, Desmond fabricates large scale sculptures that seek to enhance public spaces in developing communities. Desmond Lewis, Studio Visit, December 2018—January 2019 Desmond Lewis, Studio Visit,...