Parks Gallery will present “Steve Storz: Drawings 2007 to 2009” from April 4 to 28, 2009, with an opening reception Saturday, April 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. While Storz’s reputation has rested primarily on his sculpture – architectonic found-object works filled with mystery and apocalyptic intensity, drawings have always been an important part of his process and in recent years have increased in importance.
“Over the last 3 years my concentration has been on finding different ways to use line to convey information,” Storz says. “to convey a singular quality, to render an edge or lead the eye from one place to another, or to shade an object. But more importantly, I want line to express emotional content as well, to exhibit desire or unease, an off-balance sense like just before toppling.”
Storz, who works in oil pastel, graphite, oil paint, and chalk pastel, is inspired by shapes in nature such as pods and tentacles, and, as in his sculpture, architectural forms that carry an ambiguity that is at once ancient and futuristic architecture. “Often in my sculpture I’ll thrust an object out into space to give it a teetering quality,” he says. “To get that sharpness into a two-dimensional image is a challenge and I find and I really like pursuing it”.
