These paintings have a slight hamfistedness, which suggests distance from their alternately whimsical, mystical, Modernist, and Premodern sources. The allusions and references here—like Lipke’s interpolation of Neolithic-era petroglyphs into Kandinsky-esque painting – feel shoehorned in. The spirals, squiggles, and curlicues are more re-created than improvised, which is odd for a style that invokes the freedom of transcendental non-objective art. The single rounded corner of each shaped canvas suggests an uneasiness with painting itself, which could be the problem. Overall, these look good, but the hodgepodge of allusions feels like unnecessary baggage.