MEDIA: SCULPTURE
MAP TO FRANK’S STUDIO: 3320 E Robinson Rd.
CONTACT: fralewis@indiana.edu or 920-418-1948
Though an optimist at heart, the last few years and its resultant societal “dis-ease” have generated a body of work I call “the Disaster Series.”
Though many of the works have an immediate literal meaning, I hope that they also demand a deeper inspection. Having always admired Dada, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, I look for ways in which the accidental and the unconscious play a role in expanding the surface meaning of an image to stay with the viewer for longer than a simple narrative.
I quite specifically chose my mediums (electroforming, glass casting, woodwork, etc.) because they are traditionally highly crafted and finished objects. While my sculptures encourage the accident, cracks, “ill-fitting” junctures, and natural, uncontrolled patinas and surfaces. Like the past few years, no matter how organized and controlled we think our lives should be, surprises, pandemics, and political differences arise and interrupt plans.
For my iconography I try to use the most basic and iconic of forms – house, tower, boat, water, etc. – a simple and basic vocabulary of forms. Previously the figure has always been implied but lately I have started to include the simplified, abstracted human form, yet one still subsumed by the ever-present materials of metal, wood and glass.
I hope that even though the series was precipitated by some specific events, that in the future, their iconic sense of trepidation and tension will still be readable and elicit the audience’s engagement.