Sonny Lipps: A Cosmic Dance of Nature
written by Katie McGarigle
The paintings of Sonny Lipps are composed of earthy abstractions that take everyday objects of nature and turn them into something intricate and expansive. With a background in Earth Science, Lipps reveals the magnified complexity of biological processes through a bold and vivid use of color. Free flowing shapes echo the wild and complex patterns of nature, revealing a comparison between the micro and the macro, primal and contemporary, the scientific and the spiritual. The exploration of naturalism stems from Sonny’s own personal closeness to nature both physically and emotionally, with much of the flora taken directly from his own garden, where he also does the majority of his creative work. There is an intimacy exuded in his paintings that draws attention to the ethereal complexity of nature, a concept that most of humanity takes for granted, or has yet to even understand. In his painting The Big Question, curving blue and yellow shapes reflect the form of a human neuron, echoing the concept of intellectual transmutation. Expanding natural objects and analyzing them on a cellular level reveals a cosmic dance that is remarkably simple yet sophisticated.
The Big Question
In Embryonic Parchment, green shapes reflect the anatomical structure of a plant, while spiraling forms flow inward, drawing the viewer into a world of abstract science fiction and cellular reproduction. Lipps refers to his work as “an organic soup of cellular chaos” looking to “establish cosmic order mandated by natural design”. His invigorating use of color is both balanced and meditative, breathof fresh air reflective of nature’s own cathartic properties.
Embryonic Parchment
Entwined within his rhythmic patterns is a primal familiarity, as seen in Conception. An intimate yet primitive sexuality is demonstrated through energizing oranges and reds, while reproductive cells dance in an erotic abstraction. One is reminded of the floral sexuality explored by Georgia O’Keefe, or the vivid hues and cubist shapes of Picasso.
Conception
There is a sense of liberation expressed in Lipps’ fluid shapes and effortless use of color. In Taurus blues and greens unify to imitate the movement of a calming sea, expansive and uncontained. This effortlessness is what makes his work so harmonious and interconnected to the simplicity of nature itself, encouraging a desire to reconnect with our own cycle of creation.
Taurus
The artwork of Sonny Lipps draws us into the primitive beginnings of nature and brings us back full circle to a place of meditative balance. Abstract shapes weave together a graceful and energetic dance of biological reproduction, unified by the rhythm of color and the tension created between the microscopic and the universal, leaving the viewer with a sense of cosmic solidarity.
Aster
Rock Garden
Walk in the Woods
Halloween
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