Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalja Kent.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I had the good fortune of being tracked from a young age to become an artist. My mother was an oil painter and an engineer, my father a linguist and my biological father an artist and professor at RISD. My mother’s art studio was my playground, and I was handed down many cameras from family, neighbors and friends. At the age of 14, my neighbor Ali Baroomand lent me his black-and-white darkroom kit and I began experimenting with processing on my own. I went to a magnet school for photography in high school and later to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan where I studied under Steven Frailey, A.L. Steiner, Jimmy Page, Allen Frame, Jenny Gage, Willian Beckley, and Vince Aletti.
I began showing in galleries throughout New York City in my early 20’s. I was also active in the underground music community – hosting live music shows and multi-media events and playing shows with my band/art collaborative The Good Good. With that group I toured the US and Europe multiple times and also performed in Japan. I eventually joined the art collaborative Assume Vivid Astro Focus with which I contributed to many shows including exhibitions at the Tate Liverpool, Hiromi Yoshii in Tokyo, Japan, and the Rosa De La Cruz Collection in conjunction with Art Basel. I later became involved with a feminist artist collaborative and studio space in Providence Rhode Island called The Drit Palace. I continued to weave my art making, social practice and music into a vibrant exhibition, commercial, and community-building practice.
Today I have a thriving art studio and commercial photography business in Los Angeles. I currently make work in the analog color darkroom, photograph special collections for museums and shoot studio, still life, commercial photography. I have an upcoming residency at Camera Obscura in Santa Monica where I will be giving weekly workshops involving meditation, photography and art making. The residency will run from August 5-November 5th and workshops held every Saturday can be found here:
All events:
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/santa-monica-cultural-affairs-199424266
One of the workshops:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/body-scan-meditation-and-sun-prints-with-natalja-kent-tickets-60674150016
Has it been a smooth road?
At heart, I’m an optimist – I deeply believe life pulls through for our needs. And I try to look for the lessons in rough patches. I have had years where I wasn’t growing as an artist, where I wasn’t attracting the clients or collector base I longed for and where the market seemed to be a baffling and unsolvable riddle.
I’ve noticed the isolation of being an artist can be quite staggering at times. Much of my work involves many long hours alone in the studio. Though I’m thrilled to be connected to community via other artist friends, galleries/artist run spaces, The Women’s Center for Creative Work and the American Photographic Artists — I still find myself longing for a deeper sense of connection and community. This is a struggle I hope to put more resources and time into over the coming years.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
My art is made with a special process I developed through years of experimenting in the analog color darkroom. Without a camera or enlarger, I do a meditation that involves movement, lights and color photographic paper. Then I process the paper, not knowing what the results will be. A stunning array of color and form appears on the page. Sizes range from 8×10 to 50 x 76 inches. It’s a completely analog, self-developed technique. I sell the work through Annie Wharton of Ladies’ Room, with whom I showed work within her DTLA gallery space. I also do direct sales of edition prints. I am currently being commissioned for installations and site-specific work and welcome any inquiries.
I also have a commercial studio called Subject/Object Manifest offering cultural heritage and still-life product photography. With over ten years of cultural heritage experience, (including five years working with Harvard University) and 17 in product photography, I offer clean, elegant excellent representations of objects and goods. I have a book coming out in 2020 with Scala Press of the Blashka Glass Flowers and Plants in the Harvard Herbarium Collection.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I took up surfing a year ago. This activity has become a centerpiece in my love of LA. “Blue Mind” is the effect some call being by the ocean has on the brain. I feel a deep shift towards centeredness and joy every time I enter the ocean. Being a part of the living, moving organism of the sea has greatly shifted my thinking and being. I am so grateful to LA for this.
I’m also incredibly excited about the artwork being shown in galleries across LA. The constellation of fledgling, emerging and established artists works that are on view at any given moment is awe-inspiring. I seem to find myself at a new pop-up gallery every few weeks, and I’m always thrilled to visit the big names as well. This importance of seeing work in person and in intentional environments cannot be overemphasized as a visual practitioner or surpassed by the quantity of art on social media. If I were a writer I would read all the time, seeing art in person is the equivalent to me. I feel excited to give my time and mental space to what others are teasing out, and the gallery space is a wonderful platform to do so. LA is pushing into new territory with its galleries and art spaces and I’m very excited to be a part of this dialog.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.nataljakent.com/ https://www.somanifest.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @natalja_Kent and @Subject_Object_Manifest
Image Credit:
Photo of artist in gallery with installation: Photo by: Abby Banks installation at Ladies’ Room Los Angeles. Installation shot: Ladies’ Room, Los Angeles; Portrait with Cubes and Pear Photo are the commercial work: Subject/Object Manifest (somanifest.com); All others are my art work series: Movement Artifact
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