Megan and the Beasts of Kaimei | Tom Lewis
Tom Lewis’ fictional heroine, Megan, is nothing less than the last hope for the survival of the magical soul flowers. She follows a neon butterfly across the River Kaigen, urged on by Legends, encountering golden councils, trumpet-tooting pandas, tetchy dragons comprised of rain and shadow and The Mysterious Borobbu.
Harold Sings Wagner (2011). Acrylic, Aerosol and pen on board© Tom Lewis
In exhibition terms, that spells gilded sculptures featuring three-foot custom-made neon wings, a huge battle diptych and an experimental deity, often in luminous paint but quite possibly dependent on Lewis’ choice of multitudinous mediums, including aerosol cans, gold leaf, airbrushes, marker pens, biros, 3D rapid prototyping, garnish and pencil, to name a far from complete list.Having appeared on The Junior Apprentice, Lewis’ previous solo show, Megan and the Garden of Edo, sold out within minutes of going on sale. But non-buying visitors should find a fairytale ending in his “beautiful, nonsensical chaos.”Tom Lewis is a premium degree pencil wizard, and mouse master of the first order. Born in Birmingham in 1979, his studio is currently on an industrial estate in Tottenham, perhaps one of the most beautiful and visually inspiring places on earth.
Leaving his A-Levels to fend for themselves, he left school to study art at college and went on to a Fine Art degree at Middlesex University. Whilst at University Tom had a very strange experience on a train, which sparked the series of events that lead us here. The story is too long to be told now although, briefly, it led to the creation of a mythological 18th century French philosopher, the forging of a sword and the images that you see today. Sadly, Tom later learned that his A-Levels perished in the wild.His work can be described as an attempt to order that which he cannot, to create meaning where there is none and provide narrative to an otherwise story-less situation. Alternatively, for the moment, he likes the phrase 'beautiful nonsensical meaning'.10 years ago, the ideas for the characters came from a mixture of random doodling and a fascination with really weird people. Both of which became obsessions whilst working part time in an Arts and Crafts shop to fund his painting habit. More recently, the characters come from daydreams, mythological investigation and the odd bit of cultural assimilation. The background accompanying each character forms part of the epic story that lives inside Tom's head. It is constantly evolving, and has the unfortunate ability to make him laugh out loud in public. Just don't ask him how the Megan story ends as he gets strangely emotional. Bit embarrassing for everyone.Tom works with a variety of techniques and processes to achieve the end result, be it a painting, sculpture or print. Usually starting with a pencil, he uses marker pens, biros, acrylic paint, aerosol cans, airbrushes, varnish, cardboard, digital camera, computer and fingers. Though not necessarily in that order.