My work aims to explore what I cannot explain. The act of ripping canvas, or moving paint with my hands across the rough surface, creates for me an atmosphere of possibilities that can only be found in the moments that I am creating them. I uncover meaning and new ground by allowing myself to be swept away in the process of my work.

Further explorations and results of my process pull me towards the ever changing nature that is humanity and the physical response I wish to elicit from the viewers of my work. It is in the complex nature of myself and individual people that I find my inspiration and as their nature and circumstances are in constant flux, so too, should be my art.

For me, the act of ripping a canvas that I have already painted and then weaving it into a new composition is similar to how I view my life. Each piece makes up a part of the bigger picture, but you may never see it as a whole. The torn strips of canvas call attention to themselves in a new way that may not have been seen in the painting before. Likewise, the new placement of the canvas strip will create new relationships in the painting; both lovely and repelling.

Everyone sees things differently and I paint the way I see; I paint the world I want to live in.

Caitlyn Nygaard