LEWIS H. LEUNG
 

He never dreamed of being a successful designer or artist but a professional soccer player when he was in grade school. 

 

Yet, his journey to be a graphic designer and illustrator began after graduating from a vocational design school program in Hong Kong. Fast forward, with an advertising degree from the University of Minnesota, Lewis reinvented himself to be a visual journalist in a few major metropolitan newspapers for over three decades, with the last 20 years at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before he retired at the end of 2023. 

 

But his retirement is short lived. His recent hobby in mushroom foraging  has changed his retirement plan. Studious, he compiles information from researchers, mycologists, and mushroom specialists and enthusiasts online into libraries of notes and photos for reference. To say the least, Lewis is awed by the important role fungi play in regrowing forests and their cycles of life in our intricate ecosystem, as well as the captivating beauty of fungi that you are about to see in these unconventional art pieces. Other materials in nature such as tree bark, roots, leaves, and vines have also been his subjects in the form of videos, photography, and environmental sculptures, which are included in the multimedia page. Ultimately his love of all natural things may have also been setting the stage for his fungi art to shine at this juncture.  

 

Atlas, being an alumnus of the University of Minnesota’s journalism school with an advertising major was not a total loss after all.  The study requires creativity and techniques. With that, he simply transforms himself one more time. The freedom to experiment and create that liberates his audience to interpret these artwork without constraints is Lewis' indisputable goal,  a priceless achievement .