Sculpture Type: Human Figure

In early 2006 Lewis first began to explore the human figure. By now he was finding the animal form more and more limiting as a vehicle of expression. He found he wished to explore the idea of wilderness at a more personal and philosophical level and searched for a fresh signifier that could carry new conceptual meanings, arriving at the female figure. Lewis’s female figures can be seen as the gateway towards his most current male figure work and reflected a shift in his personal vision and philosophy, led by the notion that wilderness and the idea of wilderness is profoundly important to the human psyche.

While sketching the female nude in his studio Lewis was fascinated by the juxtaposition of his model and the animal forms of his sculptures, particularly the archetypal associations that this suggested to him. This was to influence the sculptor’s direction and he began to juxtapose human and animal elements in his new figure work.

The textures of these works allude to the textures of landscape. The rock-like forms around these female figures are at odds with the weightlessness conjured by their composition, and blur the distinction between human and earth.

Lewis’s later female figures incorporate animal attributes as well as qualities of landscape, thus blurring the distinctions between earth, animal and human and suggesting universal interconnectness.

Over the past several years Dylan Lewis has become increasingly aware of the significance of wilderness to the human psyche and has been exploring the idea of co-existing internal and external free and untamed wild spaces. This led to his desire to deepen the animal-human interface in his work, and in early 2009 he began to explore the male figure for the first time in his career.

Since then he has launched himself into a passionate exploration of both male and female figures: a dynamic integration of human, animal and earth, held together by ideas of ancient animistic belief and myth. This work represents the ongoing human struggle of everyday duality, suggesting that we embrace the tensions between animal and human nature and moreover, that there is beauty to be found in wrestling with that integration.

Over the past several years Dylan Lewis has become increasingly aware of the significance of wilderness to the human psyche and has been exploring the idea of co-existing internal and external free and untamed wild spaces. This led to his desire to deepen the animal-human interface in his work, and in early 2009 he began to explore the male figure for the first time in his career. Since then he has launched himself into a passionate exploration of both male and female figures: a dynamic integration of human, animal and earth, held together by ideas of ancient animistic belief and myth. This work represents the ongoing human struggle of everyday duality, suggesting that we embrace the tensions between animal and human nature and moreover, that there is beauty to be found in wrestling with that integration.

Most recently, Lewis has continued his exploration of the untamed in a series of sculpture ‘sketches’. Emotions originally projected onto landscape and animal forms have become increasingly integrated into the artist’s psyche. Masks, wings, claws and horns are gone, and his isolated shamanic figures have transitioned into figure groupings, both masculine and feminine. In some there is an intimate stillness, in others a wild eroticism, while others depict grief and power struggles: their nakedness expresses raw, unrestrained emotion.

These works are due to be launched in 2020, but a selection of sketches and exploratory sculptures can currently be seen the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden.