Intriguing Wood Sculptures by Dale Lewis on Display at the Birmingham Public Library
Dale Lewis uses select woods to create functional cabinets, chairs, and tables, as well as sculptures based on furniture forms. According to Alabama Creates: 200 Years of Art and Artists, the artist’s “engaging furniture combines a childlike playfulness with a mature appreciation for sensual form.”
Lewis’ sculptures are best described in his own words: “My work speaks to a love and respect for wood. I constantly search for choice examples that inspire my sensitivities and allow me to exhibit my colorful imagination. Art training and years of television production experience give life and dimension to my creations. My whimsically elegant designs are influenced by natural forms which are used as metaphors and narratives for my ideas, feelings and philosophies. My titles become my language as they frequently play on words and phrases and express my offbeat sense of humor. I use colorful dyes, inlays and carving to bring my pieces to life, often displaying a comedic tongue-in0cheek presence. With solid construction and silky finish, my creations become unique images that are often functional and always artistically relevant.”
The sculptor’s singular pieces have been shown across the country in galleries and museums. Lewis’ works figure in the permanent collections of the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Mobile Museum of Art, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art, and the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Alabama alone.
In 2012, Lewis was featured in Soul's Journey: Inside the Creative Process (click here to watch), a six-part video series on contemporary artists and craftspeople in the South. Lewis was one of the 22 artists in 10 Southern states whose work the project examined.
To learn more about Lewis and view his art, please visit his website.
Cabinet of Curiosities is the latest exhibition in BPL’s Art for Everyone series. The show is curated by Paul Barrett and BPL employee Margaret Splane.
Cabinet of Curiosities is made possible by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, awarded to the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library.
To see Lewis’ show, please stop by the Central Library anytime during regular business hours. The exhibition is free and open to the public!
By Margaret Splane| Library Assistant III, Community Engagement & Fundraising
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| Dale Lewis, No Small Change – Table; walnut and dyed maple |
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| Dale Lewis, Teamptation – Teapot with long legs; dyed and natural maple |
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