Born in 1991 in Arizona, USA, he currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Nicholas Norris (b.1991 Phoenix, Arizona USA) lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Norris’ paintings create new spaces of connection and joy. Partially observed and partially imagined, the works are based on drawings made in and around the homes of friends and family. Although devoid of people, the contents of these spaces behave like people. Exuberant and at times off-kilter, they channel the eagerness and anxiety we feel in coming together. This sense of connectedness is paired with a charming imbalance and spatial ambiguity, as if to say that connection is not possible without being in motion.

Certain patterns repeat in Norris’ paintings like a secret visual code. Looped and scalloped lines, daubs, dashes and swirls, then freeform areas resembling the fluid lines of water or wood grain. This is the tool box of glyphic language from which the drawings and paintings are constructed. When inside a room, the glyphs look like patterns adorning the space, but outside, they resemble minerals or atmospheric particles.

Norris adds layers of saturated color to his compositions, exploring color combinations that are deeply subjective. Bright hues vibrate against one another, imbuing each work with a frenetic energy. Everything in Norris’ world seems to be under the same spell, exciting and uncontrollable, hinting to a latent pulsation under all things.

-David Whelan-