Paeony Lewis

Collage of a watergram and chemigram by Paeony Lewis, showing water ripples splashing an abstract image of ancient bark.

I create art that encourages us to ponder our relationship with the natural world. Study for my Fine Art MA at NUA was underpinned by a degree in Environmental Sciences and a past career in publishing. A melding of art, science and words.

Two years ago I began experimenting with cameraless alternative photography and it is now the focus of my practice. I am captivated by the way light and the essence of nature can create a different way of seeing.

Tones of reds and pinks glow in this abstract lumen print by Paeony Lewis, created at Gardom’s Edge, a ‘thin place’.

Taking our perception of the natural world further, I began a study of our sensory responses to ‘thin places’, a term originating from the Celtic phrase ‘caol áit’. For millennia, ancient sacred sites and times have existed where the veil is believed to be thinnest between the earthly and otherworldly.

Abstract lumen print of horse dung from where horses graze at an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, a ‘thin place’. By Paeony Lewis

Using research, discourse and fieldwork, I search for these intangible ‘thin places’ that provoke emotional responses beyond our everyday understanding. Cameraless alternative photography then allows me to embed these sites directly onto a silver-gelatin surface. Thus light, soil, water, plants, weather and time are incorporated within my conceptual art.

For the next stage in exploring ‘thin places’ I shall be travelling further afield, creating art in situ, perhaps in Cornwall, Wales or the Outer Hebrides.

Image of art installation showing three crates of watergram prints in glass bottles, created by Paeony Lewis from water collected at St Helen’s Spring.

Video. Watergram ripples, enlarged onto two metres of silk organza, return briefly to a stream flowing from St Helen’s spring.

MA Fine Art