Art Biography

Madison Lewis

Have you ever watched someone work hard on days on end on something they were

passionate about? As I grew up, I watched a lot of my family work on adding special details to

their homes, their personal items, and even their art. My dad specifically would spend weeks

making fancy trim in our house. There were times he wanted to give up but watching him push

though the creative block opened my eyes. He wanted to make the space we live in a place

where you will remember forever. And that’s how I want my art to impact others. I want people

to remember my art not from the object or painting I did, but as where they were now at that

time. Just like if you picked up a trinket up at a giftshop. It helps relive that moment.

My creative process comes from the impact of others. Like their emotions, physical

standing, and even sometimes their background. All my work has story to why I created it. One

way I start to create the story is by looking at the environment the art will be placed. I have

synthesia which means I can hear something, and I can see colors in my mind. I didn’t realize I

had this until about three years ago when I was playing a song on replay while painting. I knew

exactly what colors I needed and could work fluently without thinking. This has impacted my

artwork to a point that if I'm working on a commission, I will listen to the music that person

likes, to relate how they feel and what colors they relate to. Every sound, tone, and frequency

effects what colors can portray into my work. But if its black and white, it will usually affect how

the movement of the work will be. For example, if I'm doing a still life drawling in just pencil

and in the background, I can hear people sketching, someone walking around, and a fan
squeaking. My artwork will be smooth with no harsh lines. But lets say there is a lot of people

talking, children crying, and even cars going by, my artwork will be very harsh and dark and

filled with sound. I choose to focus on where the art will be placed because It will help me put

myself in others shoes when they look at my art. I want them to feel like that artwork was

meant to be there.

Growing up I would paint anything I could get my hands on. I would carry a window

marker everywhere I went just to draw small things on store windows just to make someone

smile. I'm thankful because my family would let me do it. They pushed me to make sure I

finished everything I started and even helped me with things I wasn’t understanding. One thing

I will forever remember is watching my great grandmother do an oil painting and she messed

up. But she said, “It's just paint, let it dry and try again.” As I got older, her saying helped me

push myself through my creative blocks and even encourage mistakes.

I know that being a visual arts major will help me portray my art in ways I haven’t

before.