Kristoffer Zeiner, whose painterly practice was discovered at last year’s Prospects section of Art Rotterdam, presents a series of new series of paintings along with a watercolor at the m.simons booth this year. The Sandberg graduate describes his practice as landscape painting for which he inspired by from medieval tapestry, Norwegian folklore, as well as Japanese contemporary videogames.
His paintings are built up through a combination of quick dry brushstrokes and thinly applied planes. The approach to layering is one akin to a watercolor technique; almost every layer is painted on transparently, distorting underlying layers and adding depth to color and contrast to forms. The potential of this technique though is finite; too many layers and the composition gets ‘muddy’, or too full, offering no way back. With the works exhibited at Art Rotterdam, the artist shows to have gotten a firm grip on his technique; the depth in layers, the rhythm of brushstrokes result in abstract landscapes with a great dreamlike quality.
The overarching theme in the young artist oeuvre is the human relationship with nature. Questions about how nature is depicted in different art forms, folkloric animals and their mythological qualities or how Japanese fantasy gaming culture allows a certain freedom in depicting nature, making all sort of hybrid logics are all subject to his artistic production. Previously his, work, consisting also of sculptural and performative has been shown at Arti and Amiticiae, Hulias (Oslo), Galerie Juliette Jongma, Reneenee and m.simons.