Jenny Carlsson’s (b. 1984) paintings have witnessed a transformation during the past year. Her new works are raw and physical, her layers of paint thicker than ever before. Her altered style reflects her new surroundings: Carlsson now lives in the middle of a forest, where she exists in the midst of nature’s cycles, watching the seasons change and inhaling the earth’s fragrances. Her intimate connection with natural imagery has filtered into her paintings, and her style has simultaneously grown more representational. Whip-like branches, tree trunks, and roots lick the sky, slither across the earth, and ensnare us in their clutches.

Carlsson’s paintings examine space and primordial elemental forces. Nature and color coexist on equal terms. In her latest works, Carlsson’s physical engagement is more clearly visible than before. The works are executed using a combination of brushes, rags, and the artist’s hands. Accentuating contrasts, her paintings have a rawness tempered by glimpses of sublime beauty. Carlsson wants her paintings to have a visceral impact. They are two things at once: hyper-realistic close-ups of soil, moss, and branches, and also expressionistic studies of color, occupying a space halfway between the worlds of nature and painting.