OFFERINGS

Luke Storrier’s sculptures are pure in their non-representational state. They may appear as figurative abstractions yet in essence remain enigmatic, fluid, indefinable. In his exhibition, Offerings, Storrier tenders simple elegance with a twist of eccentricity. The artist establishes a visual lexicon that is only decodable through one’s individual perception. The viewer may observe the corporeality of the human form, a melodic note, or deconstructed elements from nature. They may otherwise relate a more abstracted meaning—a sound, an aura, a tactile sensation. Whatever it be, through these vessels the artist channels a call and response. Rather than interrogating an objective truth, in facing the artwork the viewer questions, ‘What do you offer in my reflection?’ 

Core components of Storrier’s works retain a minimalist aesthetic which derives from the integrity of the base materials. The exhibition is constructed primarily from the detritus of recycled wood—an off cut of pine, cedar, jelutong. Then, in the act of bending and burning the material until just before breaking point, grains and splinters rise above the surface and the charred object begins to take on new life. Through destruction, comes creation. 

Storrier is a contemplative practitioner—every move in his process is deeply considered without proscribing how the final image will result. He seeks comfort in the labour of his art-making, finding meditation and sanctuary from the chaos of the outside world. It is a patient and focused process—from the carving of wood to the sanding, waxing, polishing and painting. Whilst measured, there is an intuitiveness that underlies Storrier’s practice, a Kandinsky—like musicality that translates through his seamless interweaving of forms. 

In the final steps of consolidating his visual language, the artist applies salient points of gold leaf, red oxide and lucid blue. The quirks of colour and shape seem to recall characteristics of the Memphis-style and Art Deco movements. At the same time, such aesthetics nod to the Contemporary condition, where the organic and the synthetic have become almost indivisible. Ultimately however, the works are perennial, they cannot be pigeonholed in time or fashion.

Lana Hoffman
June, 2023