Inka Essenhigh

Born in 1969, Inka Essenhigh lives and works in New York.

Inka Essenhigh paints using enamel on canvas, its sheen representing for her a freedom from the weight of history. Yet precisely in its delicacy — its lack of “weight” — lies an undeniable authority. Essenhigh’s technical facility confers a kind of factual status on whatever she depicts, whether animal, vegetable or mineral, however far from reality it may initially appear.

At the same time, her virtuoso line creates a fluid dance within and between her motifs, hinting at a concealed psychological dimension. How paintings work themselves into our psyche so deeply that we see the world through them as much as we recognise the world in them is perhaps Essenhigh’s overarching concern. On one level, her paintings stand for a blooming consciousness. They prime the senses, heighten awareness, intoxicate and transport, awakening in us the desire to look further and question more. We unfurl before them.