Over There: Paintings by Erika Klara Luecke
February 10 - June 6, 2006

At first glance Erika Klara Luecke's paintings look abstract, yet she refers to them as landscapes of places and memories that she has collected over the past thirteen years. Her paintings reflect structures that are unique to her perspective, an elevated viewpoint that emphasizes shadow and geometry.

Using a series of vertical, geometric abstract forms, a limited color palatte, and subtle reworking of surfaces, Luecke creates images that are layered and complex. She uses acrylic paints and pigments as well as many types of tools and techniques to achieve her final surfaces and compositions.

Luecke's paintings have a synthetic character, as though blocks of color and texture were being moved around and built upon one another, sometimes directly abutting, sometimes separated by linear strips of another color. The result is a montage, the painting seemingly sectioned off, cut, and reassembled on the surface. Everything sits right on this surface, yet it implies some idea of overlapping planes. Luecke evokes the notions of erosion, memory and temporality in each of her works.

Luecke has a degree in painting from the Academy of Arts, Berlin and has exhibited at numerous galleries throughout Germany. Erika Klara Luecke moved from Berlin, Germany to Honolulu in 2003, and this is her first major exhibition in Honolulu. She paints at her home in Nuuanu, inspired by her new environment to create works varied from those done in her studio in Europe.