“The experience of distance can allow for thinking, for determining the shape of the “real” — or as Virginia Woolf put it: “the feeling of the singing of the real world.” Perhaps the real, in fact, is this space of consideration, the gray area, and that felt space of longing to stitch together near and far. The photographic works of Sage Lewis bring to mind the documentation of earthworks produced by Land Artists of the 60s and 70s in the US Southwest. As with documents by Smithson or Heizer, Lewis’ works exist as a vision of a place we can’t easily access. Photographing the distant geology of Mars, Qatar, and the US West, Lewis establishes a tactile and intimate relationship with far-off places. Viking Lander stills, Mars Rover imagery, satellite images from Google Earth, and artist documentation are all brought into relationship with paper, backlight film, acrylic and rubber substrates. The reach of the camera’s lens seems to touch distant geology. Rocks and grains of sand appear to float, seeking purchase. The work exposes and constructs a new geomorphology of embedded layers and surfaces, a dialog between capture and materiality that eludes our grasp, between distance and proximity.”
-Julie Poitras Santos, curator, Parallax / Geography
Sage Lewis is an interdisciplinary artist investigating the connections between material process and concept. She works through varied media including drawing, sculpture, installation, textiles, print, photography, and video, to translate images into multiple outcomes.
Lewis recently completed a Project Space Residency at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York and 10-month Artist-in-Residence Fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. While in Qatar she set up a darkroom for students to learn analogue processes and received a Faculty Research Grant to study and teach the process of carbon printing. Work that Lewis created in Qatar has spurred her current research into space analogues – places on earth that are analogous to other planets. A forthcoming artist book titled Mars Analogues will be published by the Visual Studies Workshop. Recent exhibitions include Temporary Surface at the Hamad bin Khalifa University Art Gallery in Doha, Qatar, Material Inference at the Denison Museum in Granville, Ohio, and Fixed/Fluxed at Burlington City Arts in Burlington, Vermont. Lewis has taught at The Ohio State University, VCUQatar, and been a visiting artist at Denison University (Granville, OH), College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, ME) and Hartwick College (Oneonta, NY).
In addition to her work as a visual artist, Lewis has held positions as a curator and organizer of exhibitions and special projects at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine and the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art. Lewis holds an MFA in Painting & Drawing from The Ohio State University and a B.F.A. in Painting and Art History from Maine College of Art. She is currently based in Tunbridge, Vermont and Brooklyn, New York.
Selected resume below
Education
2014 M.F.A. with an emphasis in Painting and Drawing, The Ohio State University, Columbus
2004 B.F.A with a major in Painting and a minor in Art History, Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine
Residencies
2023 Baie Sainte-Marie Artist Residency, New Edinburgh, Nova Scotia, Canada
2019 Cuts and Burns Video Editing Residency, Outpost Artist Resources, New York
2017 Stephen Pace House Residency, Stonington, Maine
2016 Project Space Residency, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York
2014-15 Artist in Residence Fellowship, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, Doha
2014 Seven Below Arts Initiative, Burlington City Arts, Burlington, Vermont
Selected Exhibitions
2022 Soft Pack, Atelier Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2021 Mosaic, AVA Art Gallery, Lebanon, NH
Parallax/Geography, Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, Portland *Publication
2019 Through the Looking Glass, Ugly Duck, 47-49 Tanner Street, London
Lobby 3, curated by by Middlechild Collective, Planned Parenthood, Columbus, Ohio
2018 Screencatchers, outdoor sculpture, Feast & Field Farm, Barnard, Vermont
Context 2018, Filter Photo, Chicago
Poetics of Place, Gravy Studio & Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *Catalogue
2017 Poetics of Place, Satellite Art Show, Miami with Gravy Studio & Gallery *Catalogue
Of Metal and Light, The Halide Project at Gravy Studio & Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2016 Mapping Extremes, Able Baker Contemporary, Portland, Maine
Fixed/Fluxed, Burlington City Arts, Burlington, Vermont
Living Image, The Halide Project at Gravy Studio & Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Transitional Landscapes, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
2015 Material Inference, Denison Museum, Granville, Ohio
The Farthest Plane: Explorations in Abstraction, Atrium Gallery, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana
Temporary Surface, Hamad bin Khalifa University Art Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2014 Fragments of an Unknowable Whole, Urban Arts Space, The Ohio State University, Columbus
Sea Smoke, Lewis Gallery, Portland Public Library, Portland, Maine
The Mirage and the Rainbow: 2014 Department of Art Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, Urban Arts Space, The Ohio State University, Columbus
MECA Painters 10 Years Later, June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, Maine
2013 The Fixed Shadow, Robert & Elaine Stein Galleries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
Piece Work: 2013 Portland Museum of Art Biennial, Portland, Maine
The Things That Touch Me, Work Ann Arbor Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
2012 Synoptic, Hopkins Hall Gallery, The Ohio State University, Columbus
Cause and Effect, Birke Art Gallery, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia
Recent Arrivals: Department of Art First Year Graduate Students, Swing Space Gallery, The Ohio State University, Columbus
2011 Cassie Jones, Christopher Keister, Sage Lewis, and Mark Wethli, Aucocisco Galleries, Portland, Maine
The Question of Drawing, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, Maine
Above and Below the Line, Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries of Art, Fryeburg Academy, Maine
Paperworks, The Art Gallery at University of West Florida, Pensacola
Interference Blue, Front Window Installation, SPACE Gallery, Portland, Maine
2010 Drawing in the Expanded Field, Clara Hatton Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
2009 Contemporary Printmaking, Free Street Gallery, Maine College of Art, Portland
Home Work, Whitney Art Works, Portland, Maine
The Business of Art, University of New England Art Gallery, Portland, Maine
2008 Small Wonders, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis
Biennial Juried Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport
Works of Art on Paper, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, New Jersey
2007 Tiny, Whitney Art Works, Portland, Maine
Misuse, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport
Intelligent Design, Whitney Art Works, Portland, Maine
Body Parts, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport at June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, Maine
2006 The Ostrich Diaries and Other Stories, SPACE Gallery, Portland, Maine
Grants, Honors & Awards
2016 Juror's Prize, Living Image, juror: Chandra Glick
Juror's Honorable Mention Award, Transitional Landscapes, juror: Natasha Egan
2015 Faculty Research Grant, VCUQatar
2014 Honorable Mention, Snider Prize, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago
2013 Arts & Humanities Graduate Research Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, The Ohio State University
2011 Purchase Award, Paperworks, The Art Gallery at University of West Florida, Pensacola
2010 Good Idea Grant, Maine Arts Commission, Augusta
2007 Good Idea Grant, Maine Arts Commission, Augusta
Lectures & Workshops
2022 Professional Topics, School of Art, Texas Tech University (Virtual)
2021 Mosaic Artist Talk (in-person, virtual, and CATV), AVA Gallery
Conversation with the Artists (Virtual), Parallax/Geography, ICA at MECAD
2020 Artist Lecture (Virtual), Halide Project Light Lunch Series
2017 Visiting Artist, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
Visiting Artist, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME
2016 Artist Talk, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY
2015 Visiting Artist, Denison University, Studio Art Program (lecture, studio visits, and workshop)
Visiting Artist, VCUQatar, Dept. of Painting & Printmaking, (lecture & studio visits, fall & spring)
2014 Gallery Talk, The Mirage and the Rainbow, Urban Arts Space, The Ohio State University, Columbus
Visiting Artist, Encounters in Contemporary Art course, The Ohio State University, Columbus
2013 Visiting Artist and Curator, Exhibition Practices course, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana (lecture & studio visits)
Bibliography
Gural, Natasha. Challenge Your Notions Of Photography And Landscape With Two Exhibitions Exploring Decades Of Processes And Ideology, Forbes, Jan. 29, 2021.
Arango, Jorge S. Experimental photography on display in joint exhibits at MECA&D, Portland Press Herald, Jan.24, 2021.
Kilroy, Shealyn. “Back to Basics: Gravy Studio & Gallery Will Feature Artists Who Are Using Historic Photographic Processes.” The Spirit News, February 22, 2017.
Jones, Rachel Elizabeth; Pamela Polston; and Sadie Williams. “Our Favorite Art Exhibitions of 2016.” Seven Days, Dec. 28, 2016.
Kany, Daniel. “At Able Baker, maps and landscapes head in the right direction together.” Portland Press Herald, October 30, 2016.
Humble Arts Foundation, Group Show #47, Space Jamz, December, 2015. Online exhibition.
Delgross, Savannah, “Studio Art Department Sponsors Sage Lewis Exhibit.” The Denisonian, Oct. 13, 2015.
STI//_/IFES, touch.my.prints Issue 04, online publication. http://www.touch-my-prints.com/post/129567496814/tmp-issue04-stiifes-launches-today
"VCUQatar Fellows Showcase Urban Landscape Art," QF Telegraph, Issue 138. Thursday, May 28, 2015.
Nangiana, Umer, "VCUQ's Resident Artists to Showcase Work." Gulf Times, April 22, 2015.
Collins, Elena Harvey, “Fragments of an Unknowable Whole at Urban Arts Space.” Temporary Art Review, July 16, 2014.
Kany, Daniel. "Art Review: ‘Sea Smoke’ at the Portland Public Library." Portland Press Herald, May 25, 2014.
Byrnes, Susan, “Camera-less Photography: The Fixed Shadow Exhibit Shows Historic and Contemporary Processes.” Dayton City Paper, Oct.29-Nov. 4, 2013
Keyes, Bob. “Only 28 out of 900 make Portland Museum of Art's 2013 Biennial.” Portland Press Herald, March 15, 2013.
Konau, Brita, "Art Current: Four Intriguing Artists at Aucocisco Galleries." The Free Press. Web. Nov. 2011
Jakimides, Annaliese. “The Canvas: Interstices Found and Formed,” Maine Home + Design, January, 2011
Kelly, Susan Grisanti, “Artists to Watch,” Maine Home + Design, April, 2010
Paige, Ian, “First Friday Frenzy,” The Portland Phoenix, Dec. 10, 2008
Sarni, Elena, “Collector’s Corner: Bruce Brown,” Artscope Magazine, November/December, 2007
Fensterstock, Lauren. “Economies Large and Small: The Artist Studio,” Arts Guide Portland 2007-8, p. 24
Paige, Ian, “Coffee Lids by Design: Four Artists Explore Intelligent Design,” The Portland Phoenix, May 24-31, 2007
Patterson, Cara, “The Right ‘Directions’,” Pulse, October 27-November 2, 2005