Castle Gallery, Inverness, until 1 October 2011

ANGIE Lewin’s latest solo exhibition at the Castle Gallery features watercolour drawings, linocuts, wood engravings, lithographs and screenprints inspired by the natural environment and found objects, revealing the artist’s consummate skill as a printmaker, designer and draughtsperson.

Characteristically Lewin’s prints are distinctly Retro both in terms of their delineation, stylised forms and choice of palette, evocative of the natural world and of living memory. Though reminiscent of interior design and fashion of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, Lewin’s art is not simply a nostalgic echo of these periods, but a distillation of influences crafted into her own inimitable style using a variety of multi-layered techniques.

Angie Lewin - Rain, Harris (Linocut)

What is particularly gratifying in this show is to see the juxtaposition of watercolour drawings and original prints, revealing the artist’s creative process and adding a new dimension to appreciation of her work. This is exemplified in the display of Festival Mug ed 34 (Lithograph) with Festival Mug (Watercolour Drawing), the fluid delicacy of the drawing defining the composition of the final original print in graphic form. The profusion of life contained in the mug flows outwards and it is this rhythmic line that in both spirit and design permeates all of Lewin’s work.

Herald Mug With Teasels (Watercolour Drawing) is another example, displaying grace and surety in the drawn mark and an almost 18th century sensibility in the observation and illustration of the natural world, complimented by the barest accents of colour in Naples yellow, soft mossy green and teal blue. The natural linear rhythm of this work is distilled and strengthened in the stylisation of an adjacent work such as Grain Field ed12 (Linocut). Here bolder forms defined in a palette of grey, yellow, russet brown and black are derived from organic curvatures; seen in the mountains in the background, abstracted oblong circular clouds, the presence of a crescent of moon eclipsed within the sun and cut white marks which allow air to flow through the composition. Form, line, colour and movement unify the image and suggest timeless cycles of nature.

The very best design surpasses the decorative, drawing the eye into patterns of life. Lewin’s inspirations are small details of the everyday; the grasses at our feet, objects gathered in remembrance of place and the subtle nuances of muted colour that denote the turn of the seasons. Winter Birches ed 65 (Screen Print) is an excellent example, with resilient plant life clustered at the base/ foreground of the vertical composition, inclining upwards towards the promise of warmth and light. Bare striated birch trees and an icy flow of line resonate with the chill of winter and the artist’s choice of colours; grey, green, blue, orange seed heads and subdued feel like the dormancy of the Northern winter, the emotional counterpoint of waiting for spring to come.

Angie Lewin - Skye Sun (linocut)

The variable scale and exploration of different printmaking techniques represented in the show is extremely interesting with the complexity of pattern in a work such as Skye Sun or Late Summer Spey contrasted with a more abstract work of intimate scale such as Skye to Harris (Wood Engraving). Here the black landmass dominates the small composition; defiant of the actual scale of the print, the sun locked within the landscape, a green baseline and dashed marks suggestive of the ocean and wind. Familiarity of place through plants and colours seen in the West Coast, Spey Valley and Outer Hebrides are infused in Lewin’s current body of work with design driven by exploration of the artist’s chosen media.

The inclusion of textile works incorporating Lewin’s patterns of Dandelion, Hedgerow and Seedheads, effectively bring nature’s design indoors and seen in the wider context of the exhibition illustrate the way in which creative process defines product. Design, Craft and Fine Art disciplines are all richly in evidence in Lewin’s work and the way that each of these elements inform each other is one of the great pleasures of viewing this exhibition.

© Georgina Coburn, 2011

Links

• Angie Lewin
• Castle Gallery