ARTIST STATEMENT
Subtraction and deconstruction are my starting points in the studio. Give me a structure to break and I will turn it into a new puzzle to solve, a way to find surprise, divergence, and catharsis. The art I produce often becomes material for other projects. I am satisfied with a piece when I am no longer compelled to reinvent it.
During the unexpected abundance of studio time in 2020, I moved from painting to collage. What I found during that long period of unstructured creativity became the happiest I have ever been making art. Collage has not only given me a second childhood, it has also given me a generous, creative community of fellow collagists for whom I am profoundly grateful.
As a writer, I enjoy discovering the rhythm of a piece and shaving words away, a process sharpened by my collage work. I move fluidly between visual art and writing, and often when my hands are busy in one modality, my brain is busy in the other. In between terrible drafts of novels, I write essays, abstract poetry, and short fiction. Sometimes I even publish it on Abstract Pancakes, my Substack newsletter.
ARTIST BIO
Andrea Lewicki writes and makes art near Seattle. She is attracted to abandoned things, starting with the tiny desert community of retirees from her Arizona childhood. Andrea has contributed art to literary magazines including Jelly Bucket, Mud Season Review, Cream City Review, and High Shelf Press. Her work appears in art publications such as Create! Magazine, Cut Me Up Magazine, Juniper Rag, and books released by Jen Tough Gallery. She is the founder of Special Agent Collage Collective, an international gathering in the scissors-and-glue-stick world. Though writing was her first creative love, long before she dared become an artist, she is a late-blooming writer. She has proudly lived almost half a century without cooking a turkey or wearing a sports jersey.