Shadow Selves by Brooke Lewis

Shadow Selves
Brooke Lewis
Oil on canvas
20"h x 16"w - framed
2024

Inside, we have undulating variations of who we are--only certain colors of ourselves are expressed at any given moment. We receive stimuli from our environment and refract that information through the filters inside and back out into the world--reflecting ourselves outwards with it. Our shadow self, however, can usually only be seen by the keen-eyed with a change of perspective.

Get to Know the Austin Artist:
My work is a reflection of not only myself, but of my neural environment—an amalgamation of recurring 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.