Exhibition - A Drop of Water in the Comprehensive Ocean: works on paper by Martha Willette Lewis

Martha Willette Lewis contemplates the physically manifesting spectre of the climate crisis at hand: the accrual of plastic waste and what it means for our planet’s ecosystems. A number of drawings from her series, Marley’s Ghost, will be on view at The Gallery at Still River Editions from October 3 through December 18, 2026 as part of the exhibition A Drop of Water in the Comprehensive Ocean: works on paper by Martha Willette Lewis.

Lewis uses rubbings of detritus she gathers on natural paper to reveal its shapes and forms at life size, then adds oyster shell paint and watercolor to highlight the craggy surfaces with colorful planes that belie the tragic implications of accumulating this type of collection. There is a paradoxical, floating sense of lightness while also referencing the permanence of geological and crystal forms.

For complete details and artist statement visit: https://stillrivereditions.com/a-drop-of-water-martha-willette-lewis

Martha Willette Lewis IG: @marthawillettelewis W: www.marthalewis.com

Martha Willette Lewis is a visual artist, curator, and radio presenter. Her work intersects science, history, and human knowledge to produce handmade works which respond to site and place. Her art is in the collections of The Yale Quantum Institute, The Boston Public Library, Nuffield College, Oxford (UK), Chapman University and Central Michigan University. She has shown at The Decordova Museum, Modern Art Oxford (UK) and the New Haven Museum, and been resident artist at The Yale Quantum Institute, and Lost & Found Lab -both in CT- The Tides Institute and Museum, in Maine, and at The Camargo Foundation in France. She participated in the Keck Futures Initiative 2015 Conference: Art and Science, Engineering, and Medicine Frontier Collaborations- a National Science Foundation project in Irvine, California, and has presented her work in places as wide-ranging as the art department at Kala Bhaven at Viswa Bharati University in Shantinikitan, India, and the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid-State Physics at Cornell University, in Ithaca NY. In addition to her solo practice Martha has several artistic collaborations which have been commissioned for permanent works of art and more temporary public installations. Last year she was delighted to have enlargements of her notebook drawings of prototype quantum computers exhibited at UNESCO in Paris for the opening celebrations marking the Year of Quantum. Martha Is currently resident curator at the Institute Library in New Haven, where she and her colleagues organize contemporary art exhibits revolving around words, books, archives and collections. When she is not making art, Martha travels the world, writes for Rootsworld Magazine, and is on the air at WPKN 89.5 FM, independent radio streaming out of Bridgeport CT. She holds a B.FA. from The Cooper Union and an M.F.A. from Yale University, School of Art.

© Martha Willette Lewis