Until 12 January 2025, KERSGALLERY in Amsterdam presents the solo exhibition ‘Layers of Air, Sticks in Time’ by Ariel Mitchell. In this show, the American artist explores a fascinating interplay of contrasts: control and surrender, structure and freedom, intimacy and distance, exuberance and restraint. Mitchell’s paintings are marked by a dynamic interaction between colour, texture and form, carefully building a palpable tension. Each painting emerges from a layered interplay of brushstrokes, where the material and the artist’s hand challenge and enhance one another. In an interview with the gallery, Mitchell states: “Painting is, in a way, about control. It’s almost a dance or a battle with the paint. Am I in control or is the paint in control?” The exhibition marks Mitchell’s European solo debut.

Mitchell’s painting process is deeply intuitive. While her compositions appear complex and meticulously constructed, she leaves room for spontaneity. Her brushstrokes are dynamic, shifting between short, forceful accents and longer, more fluid motions, evoking rhythm and energy. The paint layers overlap, yet they also seem to claim their own space. The irregularity of the brushstrokes and the visible weave of the linen amplify a sense of rawness and immediacy. Mitchell’s compositions feel open and expansive. Cool tones such as blues and soft greens dominate, contrasted by subtle accents of warm colours like yellow and pink. Her paintings play with depth, where lighter, translucent layers are alternated with heavier, more opaque strokes, inviting the viewer to look inward rather than simply surveying the surface.

At the beginning of her career, Mitchell took a step back from painting. During this time, she also worked for artists such as Jeff Koons, where she started as a colour mixer. Mitchell reflects: “I was like, this is painting in an entirely different way, where the colours are extremely thought out beforehand. That’s a huge part of the process of working there. So I began to really explore colour more in depth than I ever had, and that took an extremely long time.” Today, the artist works with a limited palette of six slightly transparent colours — titanium white, cold black, quinacridone magenta, phthalo cyanine blue, alizarine yellow and alizarine orange — which she blends into a varied spectrum. Mitchell instinctively knows a painting is finished “when the painting sings,” when it allows the viewer to get lost in it.

A striking feature in all her works is her use of unpainted, unprimed linen. Not just as a surface but as an integral and active part of the composition, complemented by layers of transparent and opaque oil paint. The linen offers a moment of calm amidst the energetic brushstrokes. “Linen is such a beautiful fabric and material to work on,” Mitchell shares. “For many reasons, but mostly because you can sort of see the weave of the fabric coming through. I often find that when I’m making the paintings, I do brushstrokes horizontally and then brushstrokes vertically, almost like I’m trying to emulate the linen behind it.” This tangible, physical element underscores the materiality of her paintings.

Mitchell draws inspiration from universal themes, personal memories and nature. Her childhood in the forests of Connecticut left an indelible mark, and many of the abstract forms and textures in her work reference elements of the landscape — or her recollections of it. Mitchell also completed international residencies in Finland, Bulgaria and Iceland, and these landscapes intuitively find their way into her canvases.

The artist’s visual language was initially more figurative but has evolved into pure abstraction. However, language has a vital part in her practice. Her paintings often start out as written notes in a sketchbook, words with a specific charge, followed by a study and the final painting. The titles of her works frequently serve as narrative entry points, with names like “The Annual Shift”, “Night Pond”, “Make Way for New Growth” and “Cathedral”. At times, Mitchell works close to the canvas, applying direct and precise brushstrokes, while at other moments she paints from a distance, creating broader, freer gestures. Her studio is often filled with an eclectic mix of music, ranging from French techno and classical compositions to jazz, pop and grunge.

Ariel Mitchell was born in 1985 in Providence, Rhode Island. She grew up in Stonington, Connecticut, where she spent much of her time playing and drawing in her mother’s studio. She earned a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, followed by a MFA at CUNY Hunter College in New York. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn. Since 2021, Mitchell’s work has been featured in an online viewing room by Hauser & Wirth as part of their Emerging Artists platform.