Nik Christensen

Nik Christensen
Gathering Loose Ends 2020
Sumi ink on paper
185 x 149 cm

His most recent work exhibited here is called ‘Gathering Loose Ends’, a large work in which, once again, the nuances of the tones of black and white manage to amaze the gaze, suggesting without never fully disclosing. The work, contrary to his past paintings, has softer and less angular shapes, the brush has a lighter touch, while the central element appears a bit more collage- like and has a pop undertone to it. The half recognizable figure in the middle, emerging from the foggy background as a woman in old school movie, is reminiscent of black and white movies of Akira kurosawa, while the whole is clearly in line with Christensen’s general Ukiyo inspiration. The variation of tones drags the spectator into the mysterious, leaving a very intriguing feeling behind.

Nik Christensen (born 1973, UK) currently lives and works in Amsterdam. Influenced by cinema, literature and Japan’s Ukiyo-e masters, Nik Christensen creates large-scale, explosive ink-on-paper images that suggest impressionistic fragments of narrative, exploring the friction between the real and imaginary, he looks for new interpretations, reconfiguring that which looks familiar. Executed in black sumi ink, which he applies to white paper with his hands and a range of Japanese brushes, Christensen’s environments appear surreal or mythical, often populated by human-animal hybrids. Of working in a medium that morphs as it dries, he has said, “It’s that slight loss of control that captivates me.”

-Text by Sara van Bussel