Past Lives by Brooke Lewis

Past Lives
Brooke Lewis
Oil on canvas
48"h x 30"w x 1.5"d
2024

Interdimensionality. The land we walk on, here in Texas, was once part of a vast ocean. Deserts, once a lush jungle. Oceans, once ice. And they may all be once again, long after our time. To ponder the past lives of our landscape is to travel to a time in which we become humbled by the vast insignificance of our timeline.

Get to Know the Austin Artist:
My work is a reflection of not only myself, but of my neural environment—an amalgamation of reoccurring thoughts, emotions, and interests converging into a colorful (an often blue) depiction. 

I approach each new painting with free, sweeping brushstrokes, aiming for a sense of impressionism, yet gradually, uncontrollably, refining them into smoothly blended forms with meticulous detail that only the brush could foresee. It is a beautiful act of defiance that my hands will not bring to life my intended vision. Each painting is a surprise to my conscious mind, no matter how much planning is involved.

Aside from my oil painting practice, I work in the sciences as a chemical formulator, practice Brazilian jiu jitsu, and care for a small zoo of animals at home, just outside of Austin, where I have lived and worked my entire life.