Mara Marxt Lewis & Tyler Lewis
BACKGROUND & CV
Mara Marxt Lewis and Tyler Lewis both come from places where an ongoing dialogue with the surrounding nature is a facet of everyday life. The towering alps of Austria and the lush temperate rain forests in Washington State are wonders that demand respect; the mountains will surprise with breath-taking landscapes and powerful weather conditions, and the green forests densely-packed with trees that are hundreds of years old filter the air while an abundance of life thrives beneath their canopies.
The close connection with their natural environment informs the multimedia work that Mara and Tyler develop in collaboration, and their interest in how we relate to our environment is clearly perceptible in their creative process. Most projects begin with something like an obsession rooted in a specific place, for example, the far north of Scotland, the Outer Hebrides, the high desert of Colorado, or the region of Murcia, Spain. Unique approaches to dealing with the local environment, whether it is for survival, economic growth, or simply living more sustainably, Mara and Tyler’s research into the human/nature relationship leads them to uncover positives and negatives. Simultaneously in their works they explore the beauty and harmony in nature sometimes in a clash with the anthropocentric activities that humans initiate and maintain.
Mara and Tyler have been artists in residence in Spain (Centro Negra AADK), Scotland (Common Ground Residency), Germany (Pilotenkueche), Canada (The Banff Centre), United States (Elsewhere Studios) and even organized their own residence program in Seattle area (With the berries). Their work has been shown at venues in Spain, Scotland, Canada, England, the United States and Germany. Their artwork has been commissioned by Nuit Blanche Calgary (CAN), Lendhauer Klagenfurt (AUT), Marl Media Awards (DE), and Humboldt University Berlin (DE). In 2018 they have been nominated for the European Sound Art Award in Marl, Germany. They currently live and work in Glasgow, Scotland and Graz, Austria.