Chaos and structure, decay and growth, vast volumes and minute details—all are part of Stangeland’s painterly raw material. Nature and painting share a common materiality: things run, solidify, merge, and accumulate. In more recent works, nature encounters buildings and cultivated gardens. The labyrinth functions as an ornament that binds the image together while simultaneously allowing for movement, whereas the tower establishes fixed points—potential markers of direction, overview, and control. Stangeland describes it as “a place to find one’s way and a place to get lost. Just as in nature. Just as in life.” The motifs are chosen primarily for the painterly possibilities they contain, rather than for what they represent.