LARISSA LOCKSHIN

A hook echo is a pendant or hook-shaped weather radar signature as part of some supercell thunderstorms. It is found in the lower portions of a storm as air and precipitation flow into a mesocyclone, resulting in a curved feature of reflectivity. The echo is produced by rain, hail, or even debris being wrapped around the supercell. It is one of the classic hallmarks of tornado-producing supercells.

Hook echoes are a reflection of the movement of air inside and around a supercell thunderstorm. Ahead of the base of the storm, the inflow from the environment is sucked in by the instability of the air mass. As it moves upward, it cools slower than the cloud environment, because it mixes very little with it, creating an echo free tube which ends at higher levels to form a bounded weak echo region. At the same time, a mid-level flow of cool and drier air enters the thunderstorm cloud. Because it is drier than the environment, it is less dense and sinks down behind the cloud and forms the rear flank downdraft, drying the mid-level portion of the back of the cloud. The two currents form a vertical wind shear, which then develops rotation and can further interact to form a mesocyclone. Tightening of the rotation near the surface may create a tornado.

In her series of paintings, pigment is intimately applied without the implementation of brushes or utensils to unprimed satin. The areas of shiny fabric left uncovered appear as breaks of light upon the surface, like sun peeking through the clouds after a storm, or the glittering surface of the ocean at dusk. Lockshin’s paintings are powerful in their immediacy, capturing glimpses of what seem like passing weather systems, ethereal landscapes and dream-like fantasies. The viewer is encouraged to move around the piece as its appearance will change from different vantage points or variations in lighting. The work eludes the confines of digital reproduction, as it is difficult to photograph due to the living aspect of the painting’s ground.

Newly incorporated elements include hand-dying the satin, heightening the play between the glittering surface and matte pigment, and hand-carved frames. Utilizing further sculptural elements, the work is pushed further into the space between painting and sculpture, becoming difficult to categorize solely within either medium.

Courtesy of the gallery and the artist