Nina Canell's practice concerns the physical and chemical characteristics of materials and found objects as well as their metaphorical and indexical nature.[2]
By placing material forms and immaterial forces into proximity, for example electrifying, heating or moistening wood, copper, plastic or glass, she creates works that embody an interchanging state, a process.[3] Canell's sculptural practice concentrates on this transformative affect: materials and objects are either being animated by a process in her installations or have been the site of a process in that an encounter or traversal has taken place.[4] Despite the articulation of the material phenomena, Canell's works are essentially of indexical nature as they open up a sense for the symbolic capacities of the objects[2] by exploring the relationship between humans, objects and events.[5] This understanding is formally supported by the works’ minimal installation within the space that devoid of any form of monumentality.[2]
Canell has a preference for working with 'poor' materials, ranging from weathered wooden beams, threads, small branches, melon seeds and nails to wires, electric cables, copper pipes and glass jars.[2]
