Shannon T. Lewis

The Softness of Much Handled Things

Lewis offers diverse possibilities: bursts of rich hue, textures folding in and around one another, body parts allowed to fall where they may. The options are endless, and softness becomes not simply an antidote or a solution for having been handled, but rather a lifestyle that may, in fact, have always been the goal, had someone else’s need for handling not interrupted.

 

It is worth considering each of Lewis’ works as worlds that in her words, “bleed into each other.” There is a porosity that allows us to migrate together towards each other through time and space. Her use of doors, windows, and mirrors serve as actual portals through which we can enter and exit while simultaneously creating a discourse around these shared experiences.

 

Excerpt from an essay by Negarra A. Kudumu entitled, Up. Around. Through.

 

Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim.