My First Chair
Red Oak / 2024 32× 20 ×17My first Chair! Made at North Bennet Street School in Boston. I was very lucky to be able to take and afford this class through chairmaker toolbox.
Learn more about Cleo
- About
Cleo Lewis was born and raised in Cary, North Carolina and has spent time in Alexandria, Virginia, Accra, Ghana and now lives in Berea, Ky. Their natural sense of creativity and inquisition lead them to pursuing a BFA in Sculpture with a Minor in Craft at Virginia Commonwealth University. While at VCU, they fell in love with the medium of wood. They now make sculptural furniture, bowls, and various trinkets that explore the intersection of their identities and interactions with the world. Much of their work has been influenced by ideas and practices of black femininity in the places they have grown up.
- Media
- Wood, sculpture and ceramic
- Professional Status
- Woodcraft manger at berea college
Portfolio
Healing Space
Walnut / 2023 18× 50 × 30In 2022 I began have chronic pain. I later learned it was pelvic floor dysfunction as a result of stress. Purchasing the slab for this table led to a series of road trips with my best friend, which were the only time I was able to relax enough for relief.
My First Chair
Red Oak / 2024 32× 20 ×17My first Chair! Made at North Bennet Street School in Boston. I was very lucky to be able to take and afford this class through chairmaker toolbox.
Cleo Product Photos 10
Beech Wood / 2023 18 × 6.5 × 6.5An exploration of form via coopering. Made at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship Fellowship in 2023.
Farhinka dining set
Ashe and India Ink / 2022Made as a cannon to understand my identity as a black woman in America. Initially I felt bogged down by the negatives. Upon further reflection I saw power and joy in my community. This is a place for us to commune referencing Ghanian Adinkra Symbols.
Co-dependance: Grey Area
Ashe and Milk Paint / 2022 32 ×24 ×18Sometimes people are brought together by loneliness as a result of dysfunction.
Sometimes the love they share is just as if not more dysfunctional.
Intergenerational Jewelry Box
Walnut, Maple, Cherry / 2024 17× 12× 5When my mother was my age, she gifted my grandmother a jewelry box. It was wooden and cheaply made. After my grandmother passed my mother inherited to box and all of its contents. Many years later I believed my mother deserved a high-end handmade version. I am