Red Head#1

The exploration of process is central in Natalia’s work. Through a variety of collected reference material, her paintings explore themes of construction, growth, formation and deformation, boundaries and territories.   

‘I am interested in the states and sites of the in between, the transitional. This is developed in my work not only in terms of subject matter; images of construction sites, abandoned buildings and derelict urban spaces feature commonly in my paintings, but in my approach to painting and the painting process.

My paintings are developed over quite long periods of time and I tend to work in short bursts. Using loose brushwork to map out surface and form, I work across the canvas drawing elements together with thin washes, picking out areas of detail and blocking out with solid colour. As such, not only is the construction of the images present in the finished work, but the work is very much determined by this process. I also try to achieve a slightly unresolved or unstable quality in my paintings and through the layers of energetic, structural and increasingly abstract brushwork, the images seem to shift, drawing together and pulling apart.’