Guy Hepner Gallery

Nathan Paddison Air Leaf Ant in the Room For Sale

Nathan Paddison
Nathan Paddison - Air Leaf Ant in the Room, 2026, Oil stick matte vinyl acrylic spray paint charcoal and pencil on canvas

Air Leaf Ant in the Room, 2026

Oil stick matte vinyl acrylic spray paint charcoal and pencil on canvas

65 x 86 5/8 in

About this work

Nathan Paddison has emerged as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary painting, his work occupying a distinctive position between figuration and abstraction that has garnered significant institutional and collector attention. The Australian-born, Berlin-based artist brings a restless energy to his canvases, layering imagery and text in compositions that feel simultaneously chaotic and meticulously considered. His paintings have been acquired by notable private collections across Europe and the United States, reflecting a market increasingly attuned to artists who challenge conventional boundaries while maintaining visual immediacy. Air Leaf Ant in the Room exemplifies Paddison's mature practice, presenting viewers with a dense visual field where organic forms collide with linguistic fragments. The title itself suggests the artist's characteristic wordplay—a near-homophonic meditation that invites multiple readings while resisting singular interpretation. At 65 x 86 5/8 inches, the work commands physical presence, its scale allowing Paddison's gestural marks and intricate details to function in productive tension. The composition demonstrates his ability to balance spontaneity with deliberation, each element appearing both inevitable and surprising. This 2026 work represents Paddison at a pivotal moment in his career, as his practice continues to evolve while retaining the conceptual rigor that has defined his output. The painting reflects his ongoing investigation into language, ecology, and perception—themes that recur throughout his oeuvre without ever becoming formulaic. Collectors seeking work that operates on multiple registers, rewarding extended engagement while delivering immediate visual impact, will find much to consider here. For acquisition inquiries, please contact Guy Hepner.

Price on Application

Edition & Provenance

Year
2026
Medium
Oil stick matte vinyl acrylic spray paint charcoal and pencil on canvas

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Air Leaf Ant in the Room

About Nathan Paddison

Nathan Paddison is an Australian artist based on the North Coast of Australia, working primarily in acrylic, spray paint, charcoal, and oil stick. He is entirely self-taught, having discovered painting during a difficult period earlier in his life, an experience that became the foundation of his practice and continues to inform the urgency and rawness of his work today.

Paddison's paintings are gestural and immediate, built with bold color, dynamic brushwork, and a flat, almost storybook rendering of figures such as wide eyed cats, toothy dinosaurs, and playing card royalty. His style draws on Art Brut and street art traditions, with clear affinities to Basquiat, Picasso, and Twombly, though his voice remains distinctly his own. Text often appears scattered across his surfaces, sometimes playful, sometimes fragmented, adding another layer to compositions that favor instinct and physical energy over careful planning.

He approaches each canvas with a sense of urgency, working across mixed media to avoid the limits of any single material. His subjects, whether drawn from childhood imagery or personal memory, are consistently distorted in a way meant to reveal character rather than surface appearance.

Paddison has exhibited across Australia, Europe, and Asia, and received the Kilgour Prize People's Choice Award from Newcastle Art Gallery in 2021.

Guy Hepner works with collectors seeking Nathan Paddison's raw, expressive paintings rooted in Art Brut tradition. Contact us to discuss available inventory or to inquire about upcoming releases.

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