Emil Lukas: Titration

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.