Artist Rickey Lewis presents a compelling portfolio of paintings that evoke societal truths and human conditions. View more of his work by visiting his website.
“Alluragothcha” oil on canvas, 3′ x 6′
I am an artist driven by the search for a particular truth within that space between observation and feeling. It is born of introspection, shaped by a life lived unintentionally alone. This solitude is a condition that defines a voice that speaks from a place of sustained watching. I record the world that is: layered, fractured, unfair, beautiful, and enduring often a single figure contained within a third of the canvas, holding space in the world.
“Tessera” oil on canvas, 3′ x 6′
Alluragothcha explores the feminine as society’s anchoring force—a natural, flowing allure. That meditation extends into New Dawn Today, a painting born from media’s omission of women of color, yet rendered beyond any single nationality. Tessera portrays identity as a sacred mosaic, a woman’s gaze, centered within the quiet dignity of her hijab, emerges from a vibrant field of individually crafted impasto sections—each distinct stroke a vital fragment of the whole.
“New Dawn Today” oil on canvas, 24”’ x 36”
In stark contrast, Red Black N Blu examines the internalized anguish of the Black mother archetype, whose fear is shaped by systemic violence. A portrait divided—half stained by a viscous blue symbolizing institutional harm; half natural, reflecting community pain. From her head flows red braids echoing bloodshed; from an eye, two black tears acknowledging rare solidarity.
“Red Black N Blue” oil on wood, 4′ x 5′
My focus also turns to the invisible structures that shape our collective existence. Cargo contemplates the profound and painful foundations of our modern world. The grid of black lines represent enslaved human beings who fueled the agricultural revolution and our global infrastructure.
“Cargo” oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
Alongside these narrative canvases, my impasto abstracts serve as textured holdings for isolated thoughts. In Power Struggle, the paint itself becomes a tense, layered conflict of control. In The Company We Keep, the thick, dense application evokes the profound isolation that persists even amidst others.
“Power Struggle” oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
This theme of separation is distilled to its essence in an early abstract work, yes, I am alone: three cool, thin, and completely isolated shapes drift apart from a warmer source—a visual epitaph of my foundational perspective. From another place of tender memory comes Waiting for Snow, capturing a child’s pure anticipation.
“Waiting for Snow” oil on canvas, 24” x 36”
This singular lens—this way of seeing from the inside out—has expanded into an entire creative ecosystem. My essence flows into the stark, clarifying language of political cartoons and rises into the pages of a meta-fiction novel, where artists’ characters manifest into reality to fight injustice.
“I See It All” oil on canvas, 24” x 24”
This ecosystem becomes fully immersive in works like my video piece, which juxtaposes a teenager and a police officer in a vegetable garden sharing an experience. These extensions—the cartoons, videos, and ongoing narrative—create multiple entry points into a single, coherent inquiry and can be explored further on my website.
“Her” oil on canvas, 24″ x 36″
This is who I am: alone, watching, translating what I see into paintings, panels, and prose. It is an archive of feeling, a testament to looking closely from the quiet place where truth speaks.