Natalia Kozhukhovskaya

In my paintings I study relationships and, specifically, love. While painting portraits
I engage in a conversation with the portrayed person and that is how I get
to know people: establish relationships;
fall in love. The embodied rhythm of the conversation itself, the process of synchronization or friction is rather more important to me, than the subject matter and the content of the conversation. Sometimes silence is pure gold and it's the most important conversation.

What matters to me is if a person is willing to open up to me and how this person does it. This process of making
a portrait through conversation is all about intimacy, vulnerability and desire to see the stories that constitute someones’ subjectivity. It’s a dialogue, when I open up as well and share my stories. When I unveil something intimate, I expect the same in return. I’m vulnerable and I invite the person in front of me to be vulnerable as well. We are no longer strangers anymore; we look at each other with different eyes. Trust, acceptance and love are emerging in our eyes and gestures. This process and its magic is what I’m working with.

STATEMENT

If you ask me to describe my paintings in brief I would say they are mostly about my life day to day through my personal intimate relationships.

Shades of red, dark blue, yellow, green — all these bright colours and creatures truly reflect stories of failure in relationships and whatever clumsy occasions. As a matter of fact, in our egocentric culture, the hardest thing is to fall in love happily. For every one this means something unique and personal.The real love is elusive. Falling in love is sometimes becoming clumsy and failures are more and more fatal.

As an artist, I like to explore this aspect of modern life which tell the truth and reflect different shades of love. My way of exploring it is to examine the dichotomy of love and relationships through the modern culture with the special sense of my own intimate experience that I share very honestly.

Portraits, situational stories or plots (told from outside), fantasies and main details themselves - all taken from my real life and connected with the real objects, like the broken heel or torn dress. All the pictures show the result of my exploration and the way of understanding the world around me. In many pictures you may find fantastic creatures, symbolising my attitude towards these people. For instance, you may see swans and spiders, which reflect men’s characters in my life. Spiders are the creatures of occasional love affairs which form my personality and stay in my life (calls, msg, spontaneous dates) after the relationship is over. Swans were the outstanding people whom I met and lost.

I strongly believe that the list of creatures may be wider, going deeply into my feelings and imagination, by the way of travelling and meeting different people.

STATEMENT

If you ask me to describe my paintings in brief I would say they are mostly about my life day to day through my personal intimate relationships.

Shades of red, dark blue, yellow, green — all these bright colours and creatures truly reflect stories of failure in relationships and whatever clumsy occasions. As a matter of fact, in our egocentric culture, the hardest thing is to fall in love happily. For every one this means something unique and personal.The real love is elusive. Falling in love is sometimes becoming clumsy and failures are more and more fatal.

As an artist, I like to explore this aspect of modern life which tell the truth and reflect different shades of love. My way of exploring it is to examine the dichotomy of love and relationships through the modern culture with the special sense of my own intimate experience that I share very honestly.

Portraits, situational stories or plots (told from outside), fantasies and main details themselves - all taken from my real life and connected with the real objects, like the broken heel or torn dress. All the pictures show the result of my exploration and the way of understanding the world around me. In many pictures you may find fantastic creatures, symbolising my attitude towards these people. For instance, you may see swans and spiders, which reflect men’s characters in my life. Spiders are the creatures of occasional love affairs which form my personality and stay in my life (calls, msg, spontaneous dates) after the relationship is over. Swans were the outstanding people whom I met and lost.

I strongly believe that the list of creatures may be wider, going deeply into my feelings and imagination, by the way of travelling and meeting different people.

BIOGRAPHY

Natalia Kozhukhovskaya was born and raised in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, where she began to study painting. After completing some residencies she moved to Amsterdam. As an artist, she explores the aspects of modern life that reveal the truth and reflect the different shades of love. Her way of exploring is to examine the dichotomy of love and relationships through modern culture, sharing very openly her own intimate experiences.

Portraits, situational stories or plots, fantasies and main details—all these are taken from her real life and connected with real objects, like a broken heel or torn dress. All the pictures show the result of her exploration and a way of understanding the world around her.

BIOGRAPHY

Natalia Kozhukhovskaya was born and raised in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, where she began to study painting. After completing some residencies she moved to Amsterdam. As an artist, she explores the aspects of modern life that reveal the truth and reflect the different shades of love. Her way of exploring is to examine the dichotomy of love and relationships through modern culture, sharing very openly her own intimate experiences.

Portraits, situational stories or plots, fantasies and main details—all these are taken from her real life and connected with real objects, like a broken heel or torn dress. All the pictures show the result of her exploration and a way of understanding the world around her.