Ffiona Lewis @ North House Gallery, Manningtree

New Studio, is Fiona Lewis’s first major show since 2015. There is a new exuberance in her drawing and painting, reflecting her delight in a new studio, printing press and everyday surroundings on the upper reaches of the River Deben in Suffolk.
The structural marks in graphite and paint are bolder and more gestural, but there remains an interest, especially in the paintings, in the spaces between the structure: looking through the trees to the buildings beyond, or simply to the sky; looking through the stems and petals of flowers or the wickerwork of a basket.
As well as the paintings and drawings of flowers, trees and farm buildings, there are new, black, seemingly abstract monotypes, inspired by the pamment paths through the garden. Again, the subtlety is in the white gaps between the printed rectangles.