“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