R e n a t a P a r i – L e w i s
Working on paper has long been central to my practice. From printmaking to drawing, it offers a direct and responsive way to think through ideas. Working in gouache is immediate and its opaqueness lends itself to layering, which I love. Through mark-making, colour and tonal relationships, I try to evoke the atmosphere of a place rather than describe it directly. Like theatre lighting or stage composition, these elements guide the viewer’s attention and help reveal something of the relationship between a figure and the space they inhabit.
Much of my work focuses on the mood and emotional character of a space. Rather than depicting landscape in a literal sense, I am interested in how a particular environment —interior or exterior, natural or constructed — shapes a feeling or experience. Interiors, especially, connect to the traditions of theatre and stage that influenced me from an early age. I often think of these spaces as sets, charged with the suggestion of events that have occurred or might yet unfold.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Renata Pari-Lewis studied fine art in London before completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (printmaking) and a Master of Fine Arts (drawing) at the National Art School, Sydney.
Over the past seven years, Pari-Lewis has been a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize; Portia Geach Memorial Award; Mosman Art Prize; KAAF Art Prize; Fisher’s Ghost Art Award and the Kings School Art Prize.
Since 2010, she has held eight solo exhibitions at Defiance Gallery (2011-2020) and Nanda\Hobbs Contemporary Sydney (2020-present) and participated in numerous group shows in Australia and abroad.
Pari-Lewis teaches in the public programs of the National Art School, Sydney, as well as teaching privately.
Pari-Lewis was elected a member of the Australian Watercolour Institute in 2025.