Petra Rös-Nickel was born 1963 in Wathlingen near Celle, Germany. After studying fashion design at the professional school for clothing in Bremen, 1980, she changed her field of study to architecture in Eckernförde in 1982. Preferring the creative aspects of the studies to the technical ones, the artist developed the basics of her painting, never denying the roots of applied design and soon ending in a refreshing, distinctive style. Since Petra Rös-Nickel shapes her painting into compositional subjects, her work can be put into different visual categories such as “patchwork”, “windows” and “oscillating lines”. As much as the groups may differ in their aesthetic expression, the artist‘s distinctive characteristics and methods remain cohesive. Working in both an additive and reductive process, Rös-Nickel builds and removes layers from the surface of each canvas to present panes of color that appear in both the foreground and background. This manipulation of space through color challenges the viewer’s perception of depth. These scratchings and rubbings lead to various elements of tension, such as “patchwork” or harmonious-contemplative forms, which she calls “windows”. Mostly established on large tables of colors and directed towards one color world, the artist‘s oil paintings develop an energetic impact on the space they‘re displayed in, conveying her joy of life and self-confidence.