Emil Lukas’ work is driven by the visceral energy of studio
practice and the vitality of the cluttered working and living
environment. His new works explore the concept of
“titration,” a chemical term referring to the process in which
small, incremental chemical alterations are applied to a
solution, until they eventually tip the scales, and a visible
change occurs.

In one set of works, Lukas has stretched and criss-crossed
colored thread across cast box-like forms, communicating both
a subjective experience of color fields — the threads often
appear to color the air around them, and the colors to
advance or retreat — while at the same time referring to the
tangible: looms and weaving, stringed musical instruments,
and netting. These complex “cat’s cradle” works, both
paintings and sculpture, accumulate the thinnest of color lines
to create a final result, which may range from the faintest
suggestion of tinted air to the dense threat of a spider’s
web.

In another series of “larvae” paintings, Lukas has mobilized
the motions of household fly larvae, intervening at this stage
of their life cycle to coax directional lines of motion across wet
black or white paint. This creates subtle mazes of frail lines
and masses of shaped traceries. These suggestive organic
forms are partially willed by the artist, partly the result of the
tiny insects’ decisions and physical efforts.