Mana Hewitt

Columbia, SC | Exhibiting Since 2008

We live in an age where language is often deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning. The term “Intelligent Design” when considered by an artist may describe the aesthetic or functional aspects of an object that has been created with considerable research and thought. Conversely we are increasingly hearing from groups promoting “Intelligent design” as a theory that living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection. My works explore this play on words through imagery associated with technology, evolution and architectural environments. The works are composed of layered copper plates that have been etched in acid, cutout, patinated and mounted into overlapping compositional elements. They are based on rearranged appropriated images from historic engravings. The final compositions are a mix of social commentary coupled with whimsical imagery. My goal is to create images that are aesthetically pleasing and conceptually significant, playing off the meaning of the chosen images.