Lewis Andrews/ B&W Photography

Almost all of the lights in the night sky are ghosts. The further you look into the cosmos, the further you look back in time. The closest star to our sun is 4.2 light-years away. Meaning that the light coming from Alpha Centauri is 4.2 years old. Some of the stars you see at this present time in the night sky have probably already died thousands, millions or billions of years ago. However, the echoes of their existence in the form of their ancient light still arrive today on our doorstep. Even our Moon is no exception. It takes light 1.5 seconds to arrive at Earth after being reflected by the moon's surface. Meaning the moon is 1.5 seconds old. Do you believe in ghosts? Look at the night sky.

Taken during the Mayes Creative 'Wild Islands, Ancient Stones, Dark Skies'  Isles of Scilly Group Artist Residency in October 2024, the isolated, craggy island of St Agnes enjoys a unique atmosphere, feeling wild and isolated compared to the rest of the archipelago. ‘St Agnes and Gugh are a 20-minute boat ride away from St Mary's, right out on the Wild Atlantic Edge with only 80 or so permanent residents.  Gugh has many Bronze Age ancient sites, including a complex centred around Kitten Hill. Including entrance graves, stone rows and a standing stone called the Old Man of Gugh, all of this is accessed by the sandy causeway from St Agnes. The group of artists participating were based at Troytown Campsite during the residency on the western side of the Island, looking out into the Atlantic.

Lewis was one of the artists invited to take part in the residency. Inspired by a previous visit and the unique surroundings of the Island, his works from the residency aimed to capture the aura & deep time encapsulated within the landscape, the ancient sites visited and the present moment of the location in cosmic time with the night sky.