Lorn Curry - Aptitude with Attitude

By Susan Cairns

Thanks to the West Fine Art Society, the art scene in Vancouver and throughout its environs, has become front and centre in many peoples’ minds. The paintings and sculptures are among the best in Canada. Here we have Richard Brodeur, Brent Clarke, Brian Croft, Brian Coombes, Ken Nash and many more. And if you haven’t yet seen the works of Lorn Curry, here’s your chanc

Consistently compelling, Lorn Curry’s paintings offer clever insights that turn the familiar into the fantastic. With a cheeky genius and a disregard for convention, Lorn is an artist with an eye for the unexpected and a penchant for a bit of whimsy. Here you can witness a fragile teacup as it becomes a tempest against a roiling sky. Grapes form themselves into calculated arrangements of fruit and foliage and lemons in a glass define a hyper real-life motif, but always with a twist.

So where does such irreverence and playful quaintness stem? It could have evolved by way of Lorn’s career in journalism – a vocation that requires objective observance, razor-sharp analysis, and a clever turn of phrase.

“Not unlike the skills required of an artist,” said Lorn with a charming grin. “My decision to leave one career to pursue another turned out for the best.”

 

And so it would seem. Working with an innate aptitude – one that he had previously paid little attention to, Lorn immersed himself into the world of visual arts. He enrolled in workshops, studied technique and let his latent talent emerge with impunity.

Thank God, because now we can witness the magic realism and deft use of reflection in his Sea Glass painting. We can go deep into an uninhibited palette of electric scenes and a plethora of visual wealth. Cast your eyes upon Teatering Sweetly or Bathing Bluetly. We can gaze upon bottles, vases, bubble wrap and baubles and see sublimely utilitarian objects against a brightly clouded sky, all vividly presented in such works as Baubles and Bubbles, Wood and Granate, Put Your Two Lips Together and Sip and dozens more. The titles are as intriguing as the compositions.

Lorn’s repertoire is vast and subtly explosive. He has a style that provides still life with attitude and one that is strangely engaging. In the works of Lorn Curry we see universal appeal fused with an au courant edginess.

Lorn Curry is a member of the International Guild of Realism and the Federation of Canadian Artists. His paintings are found in private and corporate collections in North America and Europe. Check out Lorn Curry’s works at westart.ca. or langleyschooldistrictfoundation.com.