Working in both an additive
and reductive process, Petra Rös-Nickel builds and removes layers from the
surface of each canvas to present panes of color that appear in both the
foreground and background. This manipulation of space through color challenges
the viewer’s perception of depth. Her work can be put into different visual
categories such as “patchwork”, “windows” and “oscillating lines.” As much as
the groups may differ in their aesthetic expression, the artist‘s distinctive characteristics
and methods remain cohesive.
Rös-Nickel was born in 1963 in
Wathlingen near Celle, Germany. After studying fashion design at the
professional school for clothing in Bremen, in 1980, she changed her field of
study to architecture in Eckernförde in 1982. Preferring the creative aspects
of her studies to the technical ones, the artist developed the basics of her
painting, never denying the roots of applied design and ending in a
refreshing, distinctive style.
Petra Rös-Nickel’s original paintings merge playful forms, bright colors, and architectural compositions in oil and mixed media on canvas. Her
contemporary artworks contain rich textures and patterns, referencing popular
European textile designs of the fifties and sixties. Rös-Nickel’s work
translates the geometric and organic elements of an era that hoisted the flags
of modernism and which, due to a trend to return to a rather retro style, has
become topical once more. Mostly established on large tables of colors and
directed towards one color world, the artist‘s oil paintings develop an
energetic impact on the space they‘re displayed in, conveying her joy of life
and self-confidence.
Rös-Nickel’s abstract geometric textured artworks have been exhibited and
collected worldwide, including in Germany, Belgium, USA, Canada, Singapore and
Hong Kong. Notable collectors include Chris Rock.
