Tara Lewis

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Tara Lewis creates paintings that dive into cultural anthropology and contemporary narrative portraiture with a pop twist.  Lewis creates oil portraits of figures wearing generic staples such as t-shirts, symbolic props and bespoke accessories often created and printed by the artist. The works present themes and topics that center on personal agency, evolving perceptions of women, irreverence, identity, culture trends, empowerment, social issues and pop culture, often referring to past decades and pre-internet sources in a refreshed, boldly mundane manner. Her models bring their own character, raw candor and prop handling to the portrait session at her studio, which is a collaborative process.  Lewis' work is held in many major collections, including The Phelan Art Collection, Brooke Shields, The Seavest Collection, Ashley Longshore, The Bunker Artspace & Beth Rudin DeWoody.  Lewis often presents new paintings at special events and project reveals at her studio in New York City. Lewis pursued her undergraduate art degree at the University of New Hampshire and graduate degree at Tufts University and The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Lewis is a direct descendant of Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha, one of her primary influences, who also infused typefaces and cultural portraiture into his celebrated and pivotal compositions.