Mevlana Lipp’s Sculptural Paintings on Velvet Glimpse Otherworldly Alternate Realities

“Overflow” (2021), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 80 x 60 centimeters. All images © Mevlana Lipp, shared with permission

“Velvet paintings” may evoke visions of midcentury kitsch, thanks to artists like Edgar Leetig (1904-1953) and a demand for mass-produced decor. But that phenomenon is only a fraction of the history of painting on velvet, a tradition that is believed to have emerged in Kashmir, where the fabric was first produced. The silky material’s fine pile absorbs light, providing a unique substrate for paintings on which pigments appear to float on a contrasting, deep black background.

Mevlana Lipp redefines the genre by meticulously rendering otherworldly botanicals that writhe and spread amid ornamental elements. Acrylic paint, sand, and ink are applied to meticulously cut wooden panels, which are then laid over the top of velvet. Fantastical and glowing as if viewed under a black light or synthesized, the blooms and vines suggest an alternate reality in which plants take on suspiciously human behaviors or features, like hands or eyes.

“My work always has to do with longing for this other place, where things are still connected on a deeper level, where thoughts don’t occur and instincts take over,” Lipp tells Colossal. Interested in the relationship between order and chaos, he often uses symmetry or repetition as a foil to the organic curves of his subjects. In his most recent work, the artist has been experimenting with the theme of a grid or gate.

“Claw” (2024), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 45 x 33 centimeters

When Lipp visited Venice earlier this year to see the inaugural exhibition of Capsule Shanghai new location, where he will be presenting a solo show next month, he was fascinated by the burglarproof metal bars affixed to residential windows. “They oftentimes are highly artistic, sometimes floral or more architectural in shape,” he says. “I like the idea that they are like a barrier, separating the inside and outside—these two worlds—and making a transition between these two difficult.”

Conceptually, the grid transforms into what Lipp describes as “a net of responsibilities and social contracts” we all agree to, affording glimpses of what lies beyond yet physically barring entry. In his work, the barriers function as metaphysical gateways between our known realm, our primordial origins, and our ability to comprehend our own evolution. “The place on the other side might be too wild for homo sapiens, but it is still tempting to take a look between the bars from time to time, peaking through a window into our distant, feral past.”

Lipp will also have work soon in the group exhibition TICK TACK at Kunsthalle Recklinghausen in Germany, which opens on August 24. Find more on the artist’s website, and follow Instagram for updates.

“Visitor” (2023), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 80 x 60 centimeters

“Fire” (2024), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 200 x 150 centimeters

“Curiosity” (2023), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 80 x 60 centimeters

“Tension” (2024, wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, and aluminum stretcher, 45 x 33 centimeters

“Orbit” (2023), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 150 x 110 centimeters

“Growth” (2023), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 120 x 90 centimeters

“Pulse” (2023), wood, velvet, acrylic color, ink, sand, aluminum stretcher, 80 x 60 centimeters

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