KRISTIN NORDHØY

Nordhøy copies, repeats and displaces elements. Strictly geometrical compositions reveal, on closer inspection, traces of intricate manual creation. Everything is fabricated by hand using paint, charcoal dust, pencils, pens, brushes, rollers and varying widths of masking tape. Subtle pigments are mixed together in the hope of discovering unexpected optical effects, at times, the artist does avail herself of brighter colours, which bring warmth and dynamism without being disruptive. Although she roughs out her compositions in preparatory sketches, the final decisions are only formally resolved in the making of the work, rendering the systematic exactness as illusory.

“Repetition is at the core of Nordhøy’s practice. Again and again, in her charcoal works, she creates strict, yet playful patterns based on unruly black dust. The meticulous process of creating the soft-spoken, almost introverted drawings and paintings produces a clear tension: they contain a dizzying number of lines, yet emanate calmness.”¹ - Live Drønen (Innate Systems and Divulging Newness)

Paradoxically, the limits the artist imposes liberate her, freeing her up to create stark and poetic images. It is within this repetition and rhythm that the work induces a trance-like state, shutting out distractions to create a perceptually rich encounter with the present moment, where overlapping wave patterns ripple into a breathing, moiré effect that feels shifting and liquid.

Text courtesy Cadogan Gallery.