Lewis Betts (b. 1985, Plymouth, UK) confounds the distinction between painting, drawing and printmaking. Working on the floor of his studio, he creates monotypes on paper and fabric, both abstract and figurative. Below the paper or fabric lies thick relief ink spread evenly on large MDF boards. Lewis applies pressure from the reverse of the fabric with power tools, brooms, maracas, and other unconventional tools. These deferred marks lend Lewis’ work a powerful expressivity and a physical presence as objects in the room. While the subject matter ranges from the sexual, to the mythical and the humorous, the traces of his process remain key to the work.
Lewis Betts graduated from the Royal Academy Schools in 2012. In 2013, he was included in Bloomberg New Contemporaries, exhibited at the ICA, London and Spike Island, Bristol.
Image: Cotton mouth, 2015, Relief ink and oil on fur