Lewis Buttery was born in Leicester and was introduced to the art world by local charity Soft Touch Arts, in 2013, after dropping out of his A Levels during his worst period with his mental health. Upon introduction he immediately started practicing as a self-taught artist, taking part in a group residency and exhibitions that year. The following year he started delivering workshops on behalf of the charity: which he continued doing until 2018 within arts organisations, schools, youth clubs, council estates, and prisons.

During that period Lewis was in the local paper and on the local BBC Radio station more than once. He was involved in numerous big projects, like curating Leicester's leg of the touring Generation Art exhibition and being part of the corresponding panel talk.

In 2016 Lewis decided that he wanted to improve his skills, so he began a Foundation in Art & Design at De Montfort University part-time alongside his professional practice. Upon completion in 2018 he then chose to do a full-time BA in Fine Art at UAL: Central Saint Martins. While there, in his second year, he was awarded the annual BWW residency with Liquitex and also took part in the annual Tate Exchange group show at Tate Modern. He ended up graduating during a COVID lockdown in 2021.