Artist Statement
Hewson is continually searching for ways to access and explore the unconscious mind. The covert activity that continually runs in the background makes up 95% of brain activity and creates the basis of our individual character, thinking and behaviour.
Research and concerns include cognition in vision, the importance of structure to the human psyche and context of colour within the overlap of psychology and neurology.
For Hewson, the introspective process of self-discovery is about the desire for excavation but also seeks to repel the same insight through escapism. Liberated self-expression in paint and constructed mathematical formulas in installation and animation result in optical illusions of dimension, light and pattern that linger on the peripheral areas that poke at our visual perception. The multitude of cohesive and combative layers reveals the complexity of this unconscious space while each piece becomes a documented glimpse of the activity here.
Hewson creates an abstract sensory vocabulary, through colour and material exploration, that activates and celebrates this part of the brain that is often taken for granted, while ultimately seeking connectivity with the viewer through our collective unconscious.