Lewis & Pine opens Cold Spring gallery
When she was 13 and attending art camp, someone handed Yali Lewis a blowtorch during a metalsmithing class.
“I thought it was the greatest thing ever,” she says. “I never wanted to stop.”
Today, Lewis creates unique jewelry, which fills her Lewis & Pine boutiques in Beacon and Cold Spring. But she also studied fine arts in college and worked at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. She’s a painter and her most recent inspiration is to combine pursuits.
Her wearable art is displayed at Found Space Gallery, a new spot located in the back of her Cold Spring shop, at the foot of upper Main Street. Lewis also added a home goods nook. She plans to show work from other artists after dismantling the inaugural exhibit, which she calls Cold Connections, Hard Edges, on Valentine’s Day.
According to Lewis, the title combines a metalsmithing phrase referring to “any technique that connects two or more parts without the use of heat,” like a blowtorch, and a fine-art term for abstract paintings in which areas of color collide abruptly.
More than 40 works fill the modest room. A floor-to-ceiling fireplace takes up a lot of wall space, although the piece “Electric Mermaid” hangs from a rusted nail in the stone.
The larger works are designed to accommodate necklaces that drape from enameled metal pegs in the top corners. Instead of using commercial clasps, Lewis designed a toggle that fits into a loop and integrates with the hangers. Earrings, which press flat against the surface, can also be removed for a night on the town and go back on the wall.
The backgrounds consist of triangles and abstract geometric shapes. The jewelry, including pendants, is centered in one or more sections of the paintings, which contribute to a harmonious effect. Lewis uses acrylic on wood and affixes clever names such as Mango Tango, Bikini Martini, Granite Vortex, Bubblegum Forest, Meatball Rainstorm and Tangerine Evangelist.
To create the earrings and necklace pendants, Lewis works with precious metals like sterling silver and 14-carat gold, which require a blowtorch to get the temperature high enough so she can solder together the areas where the surfaces overlap. The goal is for these connection points to be flat and seamless, maintaining the appearance of a continuous line.
The new works stick out an inch from the wall, so they appear as three-dimensional hangings painted on the sides.
“There are no brushstrokes,” says Lewis. “These works are hard to describe: It’s not a painting, it’s not a jewelry holder. It’s kind of a hybrid wall sculpture.”
Lewis & Pine and the Found Space Art Gallery are located at 38 Main St. in Cold Spring. The opening reception for Cold Connections, Hard Edges is scheduled for 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday (Dec. 14). See lewisandpine.com. The Beacon store is at 133 Main St. Both are open Thursday, Sunday and Monday from noon to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.
