Do You Hear Her?

BY PATRICIA DENYS | ALL IMAGES ©JANE LEWIS

British artist Jane Lewis, who was recently in the Absent Referent show at TAG Gallery in Los Angeles, recently spoke to us about her art. She has been an artist for some four and a half decades now, and has always had a feminist perspective. She came to animal activism and veganism relatively late in her career; “I was one of those people who became vegan overnight because the film, Earthlings had such an impact. In fact, I had to watch it in two parts, over two evenings, because I was so distraught that I cried all the way through. I’d lived my entire life without knowledge, or perhaps in denial, of the atrocities routinely inflicted on other living beings by humans. I began watching the documentary on YouTube in all innocence, having vaguely heard that it was a documentary about animals, but unaware of its real content.”

Interestingly, she did some earlier work which, in retrospect, hinted at her future in animal activist art-making. “I worked a lot in etching, and liked the acid-bitten look of the medium. A couple of years ago, sorting through some of the etchings, I found two images that seem to presage my recent work: one of a pig’s head with sausages dangling from its mouth and another of a cat’s head with electrodes attached. They were meant to be about the grotesquery of creatures pushed to extremes, even though I had no notion of animal rights at the time. Sometimes the true relevance of one’s work comes of age many years later.”

As her career progressed, she became more influenced by –isms other than just feminism. “The most important ism I had to understand and fully absorb on becoming vegan was speciesism. I had to readjust my view of humanity’s supposed precedence. The notion of the inferiority of other animals, indeed of all life on earth, is one that is taken for granted by the majority. I read Eternal Treblinka by Charles Patterson in which the writer says: ‘Once animal exploitation was institutionalized and accepted as the natural order of things, it opened the door to similar ways of treating other human beings.’ His premise is that all exploitation is rooted in animal exploitation which in turn leads to discrimination against women, against LGBTQ people, against people of different appearance or ability, to human slavery and genocide.

“And I realized fairly quickly that there is an obvious parallel between the gross exploitation of the female reproductive system in animal agriculture and the denigration of women through sexism. I had to readjust my view of myself as a feminist, a view which should have embraced veganism all along.

“My work’s emphasis used to be on the human figure with occasional inclusions of other animals, but now the balance is reversed and humans take a more secondary role. Not long after I became vegan I felt a conflict between the work I continued to produce with imagery I was known for, and the terrible representations of animal suffering I had seen and read about which played like a horror movie in my head.”

She describes her “Earthlings” series, some of which are depicted here. “My first animal rights work was a series of 18 drawings entitled Earthlings, directly inspired by the documentary film, which dealt with not only animal agriculture, but the fishing industry, hunting, racing and vivisection. I wanted to portray atrocities in a way that would draw in the reluctant viewer. I tried to give the animal victims a certain dignity and poignancy, while at the same time not disguising the harrowing nature of their suffering. In several drawings, the animal victim looks out of the picture and makes eye contact with the viewer, which is intended to be subtly unnerving. I want my work to touch hidden emotions, and thereby question and change habits and attitudes.” She added that the writings of Carol J. Adams, especially The Sexual Politics of Meat and the Pornography of Meat, influenced her greatly. Like many artists, she works in a wide array of media.

“I’m a traditionalist in the media I use. I work in oil on canvas, pastel, conte crayon, charcoal, graphite and coloured pencils. The older I get, the more slowly I work; so that when I plan an oil painting I know that I shall invest several months in its realization and that determines the subject – my works in oil are more complex than my works on paper; they have multilayered narratives with a more distinct mood of the surreal.

“I also occasionally work in pastel as a form of painting. I can finish a picture more quickly in pastel and it is possible to approach the complexity of oil painting in the medium; occasionally I make a fully realized study in pastel that is also a finished work in itself.

“Much of my animal rights artwork is in drawing because I will have a rush of ideas that I wish to express. I still spend a great deal of time on them, but it doesn’t amount to months on one image.”

She described her research regimen. “I make written lists of ideas first, this is to remind myself later if I haven’t got around to working on image versions. Then I will make simple line and wash drawings in a sketchbook and if it is a painting then I’ll work up a full-sized outline drawing called a cartoon.

“I research ideas through reading, watching video/film and finding informative photographs. And I observe and draw. Ideas constantly float around in my head – they are always there.”

Lewis developed her interest in surrealism after a visit to the Tate Museum at the age of twelve. Its influence can be seen in her animal rights art. In Lewis’ words, “I feel that painting should create another world rather than simply reflect what we ordinarily see. I have little interest in pictures that are pretty arrangements of depicted objects or landscapes. I loathe pseudo-impressionist rectangles produced as interior decoration. I want a work of art to speak to the viewer, to challenge and pose questions.

“Surrealism embraces contradiction and ambiguity and expresses the relationship one has between conscious thoughts and an inner world of free-floating ideas and imagery. My animal rights work, particularly the paintings, has a surreal edge to it which I hope will at the very least encourage the viewer to pause and wonder.”

She stated that a portion of Jacqueline Morreau’s artist statement particularly resonated with her:

“We have only a small space of time in which to make our marks on paper and canvas, to effect permanent changes in society before the barbarians once more close in … We must work harder than ever to make what gains we can in the consciousness of civilized people.”

Lewis added by way of explanation, “I feel sure that Jackie would have agreed that there is now an even stronger necessity than ever to speak through whatever medium is our strength to raise consciousness against exploitation of all living creatures and the environment. We each have only our very short life in which to speak out, be it as visual artists, writers, performers, political activists or protestors; and we each have certain talents and strengths with which to express our deeply held principles. Unfortunately the barbarians seem to be closing in now with greater force than ever.”

Asked about her vision for the future, she opined, “My greatest hope is that humanity will shake itself out of its capitalist consumerist trance, sack its psychopathic political leaders and realize that this planet is the only home we have. That we need, with the greatest urgency, to value and take care of what remains of the earth’s eco-systems and the creatures, including ourselves, that depend on them. The burgeoning human population and the farmed animals it feeds on outnumber all other life to an obscene degree. Radical changes must be undertaken now, not tomorrow or next year or next decade. I have to admit that I sometimes despair.”

To view more of Lewis’ stunning art, go to: janelewisartist.com