Odyssey
Natalia Wróbel
Artist Bio:
Natalia Wróbel is an artist based in Boston, MA. Originally from San Diego, CA, Wróbel studied Studio Art and Art History at Dartmouth College. She furthered her study at the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute in Florence and the New York Studio School. She received the New York Studio School Mercedes Matter Fellowship in 2012, and the Murray Art Prize in 2015. In 2016, her painting was selected for inclusion at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Auction. In 2017, Wróbel completed a painting residency at the Berlin Art Institute, and her work was selected for inclusion in the MassArt auction. Her work has been featured at art fairs including Art Basel: Miami, Texas Contemporary, and Art South Hampton. Her paintings have been featured in books and publications in the US and Europe, in coursework at MIT, and are included in private collections around the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. Wrobel’s work is represented by Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Boston, MA.
Artist Statement:
Natalia Wróbel considers her paintings portals into liminal realms beyond our physical world. She references mindfulness philosophy, neural networks, elements from nature, musical harmony, ancient architecture, and theories about the interconnectedness of the universe to elicit energized abstractions and meditative pseudo-landscapes.
First, Wróbel establishes the conditions all-over the canvas, utilizing the natural movement of her body to create a foundation for the painting, which she considers a “sacred scaffolding”. She then dives into the composition and attempts to resolve the chaos. Wróbel hopes to make paintings that seem alive—at one glance still, at another moving—with forms coming together and breaking apart, seemingly at the same time. The painting process, highly energized and kinetic, is integral to the meaning of the work—a balance of guiding the paint, adding and subtracting, and trusting her materials and the energy flowing through her—allowing for beautiful accidents to occur.
A theme that has driven her work for the past decade is a fascination with dualities: harmony vs. chaos, dark vs. light, density vs. breathing space, geometric forms vs. fluid gestures, thick impasto vs. thin washes, and the coexistence of these opposing forces as a metaphor for the endurance and adaptability of the human spirit: hope amid despair, peace amid conflict, etc. While painting, she is searching for the sublime, for a sense of fullness, contemplating the whole of life experience and the necessary coexistence of opposites, without each we wouldn’t recognize the other. Making paintings is more than creating a physical object. Through her paintings, Wróbel explores the uncharted territory between active and passive, thought and intuition. Paint decisions are rooted in a combination of color theory and intuition, as Wróbel believes deeply in the visceral and transformational impact of color. Painting allows for constant exploration into a liminal realm, each painting a snapshot of a millisecond eternity.
Ultimately, paintings are her version of prayer, a moving meditation. She intends to create a powerful resonance on canvas, a felt, sacred space—one that encourages contemplation, inspiration, and a deep sense of presence in the viewer.
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