Employing a deeply layered process of hiding and revealing gestural marks and traces of handwriting, Nate Ethington explores the poetics of connection and communication through painting.

Ethington pushes these notions of dualities and contradictions, of both carefully sharing and closely guarding one’s intimacies through his gestures of texture and mark making. Emphasizing intuitive compositions of thick impasto focal points over neutral fields of color, traces of written words and subtle scribbles suggest the haziness of fleeting thoughts and memories of conversations with no determinable beginning or end.

Emphasizing intuitive compositions of thick impasto focal points over neutral fields of color, traces of written words and subtle scribbles suggest the haziness of fleeting thoughts and memories of conversations with no determinable beginning or end.

Nate Ethington (b. 1977) is a self-taught abstract painter based in Portland, Oregon. Known for working with acrylic paints, oil pastels and oil sticks, graphite, charcoal, and spray paint on canvas, Ethington creates striking compositions that explore the interplay of color and texture. He is best known for his use of tones and tints, where thick impasto focal points create tension against often neutral fields of color, scattered with spontaneous marks and traces of handwriting.

Ethington has exhibited at Chefas Projects in Portland, OR and Galerie Jardin in Paris, France. His works are part of numerous private collections worldwide, and he participated in the Leland Ironworks Residency. Through his exhibitions and ongoing artistic practice, Ethington continues to explore the emotional and expressive potential of color and abstraction. Nate Ethington is represented by Chefas Projects.