Former illustrator, draftsman and jazz musician Shamms Mortier exhibited his artwork at Studio STK’s new North Avenue location on Friday, Jan. 26.Mortier’s exhibit, titled “A Curious Storm,” featured his “quantum surrealist” artwork. “The purpose of art can be compared to the meaning of life,” he explained.”Art has no more purpose than life itself has meaning. The purpose of art is art and the purpose of life is life.” Mortier’s collection consisted mainly of digital and electronic art.His pieces depict reality with a surrealist twist — a combination that makes for colorful and compelling images.A teacher of both philosophy and psychology, Mortier aims to expose what he sees as aspects of reality that are often overlooked.He feels that elements that are often associated with dreams are actually present in reality. With advances in science, we are beginning to understand these associations.The pen and ink section of Mortier’s exhibit contained similar themes as his digital creations but were less colorful and featured a sharp contrast between light and dark.One piece titled “Impossible” portrayed a fish jumping over the arm of a watery figure that had risen out of the ocean.This section also featured work called “In Waiting,” an empty frame that Mortier labeled an “area waiting for a symbol by the artist after death.”Mortier promised to return from the next world after his death to create a work of art that would answer long-standing questions about the workings of the universe.”A Curious Storm” was the first exhibit to be displayed in Studio STK’s new location at 12 North Ave.The studio opened in April 2005 at a different location on North Street, but curator Sage Tucker-Ketcham is excited about the change of locale.The exhibits at Studio STK are changed on a monthly basis. Tucker-Ketcham encouragesstudents to come and explore what is on display.She takes pride in her studio’s diversity of shows and says that if one month a particular exhibit does not appeal to a person, the next month’s show might be a completely different style, so visitors should keep up to date of what is going on there.For more information, check out Studio STK’s Web site at http://www.studiostk.com. To sample some of Shamm Mortier’s work and to learn more about the artist, log onto http://www.shammsmortier.org.