Joan Lewis is an artist, lawyer, activist, mother and longtime partner of husband Bob Cortes. She is the daughter of film producers, Edward and Mildred Lewis. Joan attended and graduated UC Berkeley and UCLA with multiple academic honors. She graduated law school in the 1970s with awards and publication in the law review. She practiced law until becoming a full-time mother to daughter Maya in 1982. 

 

Joan enjoyed drawing as a child. When she was in her 40s, she took art courses at various Los Angeles institutions, including Otis Art Institute and UCLA.

 

Joan’s interest in people, her keen observations, and her grasp of emotions led her to explore portraiture. Observing faces and expressions became an avenue for discovering and expressing her own feelings while working with those of her subjects.Through her portraiture, she recognized that an unpredictable yet captivating synergy existed between viewer, the artist, and her subject. Some faces reveal entire stories in their eyes, others remain hidden behind the masks we sometimes wear. Since we are all more similar than we are different, her intent with each piece is not to judge, but to find what is shared and relatable amongst us.

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Some portraits reveal sorrow, melancholy, helplessness and family discord. Others express love, friendship, joy and “oneness” with others. Although some of these people are no longer with us, they are not gone. Some of their stories are here, in their faces, in their eyes, and you are invited to meet them.

 

Joan’s work is held in a variety of private collections.