Visual rhythms created by high key colors in short, undulating strokes dominate Martina Nehrling’s canvases and works on paper. She takes the ups and downs, joys and sorrows, meaningful and senseless moments of the human experience and translates them into dashes of color. She visually describes a pulsing stream of consciousness written in primary, secondary, and neon palettes.

Her brushstrokes accumulate and intermingle like staccato notes in a musical score. The jaunty rhythms lead the viewer up, down, around, and through moments of continuous movement. The contrasting colors vibrate against each other to create the illusion of constant motion gliding in and out of the picture plane. Despite the commotion, there is also a minimalist quality to Nehrling’s work. By paring down to the essentials of painting– paint and a brushstroke– there is a sense that each work is not trying to be anything but itself. The outcome is an immediate, intuitive freshness.

“Utterly seduced by the formal complexity of color, I revel in its emotive slipperiness and enjoy mining its controversial decorativeness. The inextricability of these aspects unique to color, continually spurs my engagement. I muse in lush celebration, high pitched lament and raucous rebellion.” – Martina Nehrling

Martina Nehrling received her MFA from the University of Chicago. She has enjoyed numerous solo and group exhibitions, including a curated solo show and artist lecture at Bradley University in Fall 2014. She has also received a Community Arts Assistance Program Grant from Chicago Cultural Affairs and a Finalist Award from the Illinois Arts Council. She lives and works in Chicago.