Jeff Nachtigall | Nightshift

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Jeff Nachtigall, “Night Shift #1,” 2023

acrylic, glitter, spray paint on canvas, 30 x 22 " (courtesy of the Gallery)

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 25, 5:30-8:00PM

My practice affords me the opportunity to be in a state of constant play. The studio environment constitutes the sandbox where blank surfaces and raw materials catapult me into realms of perpetual exploration. This quixotic journey is furthered with every mark made, each revealing another path suitable for my compulsive navigation.

“Do something, do something to that, and then do something to that.”  – Jasper Johns

A process of mark making that begins with an improvised act interests me. As the work evolves, carefully considered marks begin to replace the expressive gesture. The succession of these marks advances each stage of the painting, and provides fertile ground for the continuing development of content and subject matter. I respond to marks made, palettes change and evolve as color is applied and the addition of subject matter informs the potential direction of the painting. I’m not always sure where things will go and even when I have a relatively clear idea, this responsive process usually dictates the final outcome. 

I work in series, developing several paintings at one time. This serves a pragmatic purpose as it allows me to work uninterrupted for extended periods and is conducive to a steady stream of production where one idea informs the next. Like pages in a book or scenes from a movie, each is unique and significant in its own right, but ultimately belong to a greater whole. The repetition of marks and images are a direct hold over from my training as a printmaker and allow me to work on multiple variations of a theme.

Story telling is woven directly into the process of the work, often prompting the development of non-linear narratives that subsequently inform the subject matter. My work is graphic by nature and borrows from print media, advertising, comic books, popular culture and graffiti. This sensibility is combined with a deep appreciation and respect for self-taught artists intuitive mark making, use of colour and sense of composition. I frequently tip my hat to modernism and hard edge painting and continuously cite the old masters while acknowledging my contemporaries and current art direction(s) 

After a number of years in Toronto and Montreal I found myself back in Saskatchewan. My reintroduction to rural life occurred a year ago when I left Regina and moved to a three-season cabin on Last Mountain Lake. Here I find myself surrounded by a way of life that is at once familiar and exotic. Each day I trek across a frozen lake to a small studio in an abandoned building. A diesel generator supplies electricity and a wood stove provides warmth. I paint from dawn until dusk. I travel as the light allows, avoiding the dark and the cold. Coyotes howling, shadows stretching and my snowshoes chiming against the ice like dinner bells.