Emil Lukas: Recent Sculptures Related Paintings

Emil Lukas makes evident every process and part that goes into his work. Byproducts of his studio practice and the natural environment become source material for and subjects of works that are both painting and sculpture. The pieces are histories of their own inspiration and construction. Wide ranging materials, including paper coffee cups used to mix paint, bottle caps, plaster casts of objects and body parts, organic residue, string, and bubble wrap are part of the archeology of each piece and vocabulary of them all.

Lukas’ sculptures are stacks of two-sided paintings – each piece ordered – so that a viewer flips back and forth through them, like the pages of a book. The surface of each component interlocks with the next, both physically and visually. Each turn of a “page” leads to discovery. The wall-mounted paintings are inspired by the relationships between the components of the sculptures. The paintings and sculptures share a visual vocabulary that incorporates the actions and thoughts of the artist, and parallel the processes of organic nature and time.