Christine Lewis, Holland, 2017, Pencil on paper

Different Things Around the World is Christine Lewis's first solo exhibition in New York City. The show is a collection of drawings that depict architecture both real and imagined in both foreign and domestic locales.

Lewis sources photographs that inspire her, using them as a launching point for her ideas. These sources range from photography books to magazines and local publications. She looks for images that grab her attention, irrespective of locale or source. A picture of rowhouses in Charleston, South Carolina in Metro New York inspired one drawing in this series. 

In Lewis’s words, upon seeing the image, “I thought, this is so exciting — I have to draw this. The texture, the colors … pop out at you.” 

Lewis’s approach isn't mere mimicry, however. She says, “I look for things that are unique and different. I don’t just copy out of a newspaper or magazine; I like to make the image my own.” 

In her work Jamaica, a photography book she found on a family trip to Jamaica gave rise to a drawing that transforms the surrounding landscape and her very subject matter. She reimagines a local house as a sacred space, with the inclusion of stained glass windows and a prismatic sky to complement them. 

For New York-born Lewis, the driving force of this show is an idea of escapism. Her inspiration is, “Places that I’ve never been to before, but I can see how they look on paper. It’s nice to think of what it could be like to go there one day.”