NATALIE CHRISTENSEN
NATALIE CHRISTENSEN
THE DECONSTRUCTED SELF LAST NIGHT I DREAMT I KNEW HOW TO SWIM NEW MEXICO DECONSTRUCTED INSISTENT WHISPERS SOUTHWEST BY MIDDLE EAST
all works are archival natural pigment prints on Italian cotton rag available mounted to aluminum dibond with satin laminate
THE DECONSTRUCTED SELF
THE DECONSTRUCTED SELF In 2014 I moved from the state of Kentucky to New Mexico leaving my lifelong home and my 25-year career as a psychotherapist behind. While it was an exciting moment it was also a time of questioning and reflection. Like many artists who have come to New Mexico, I was immediately drawn to the distinctive Southwestern light. The beauty of the natural environment is evident to most people; however, my interest was to explore the more banal peripheral landscapes that often go unnoticed by the casual observer. I began by photographing color fields and geometric shapes. I was interested in the way light and shadow could spark complex narratives, and I quickly became aware that these isolated moments in the suburban landscape were rich with metaphor. Closed and open doors, empty parking lots and forgotten swimming pools drew me to a scene; yet it was my reactions to these objects and spaces that elicited interpretation and projection. As a psychotherapist, I learned the art of asking the question – in many ways these photographs are an extension of that work. The symbols and spaces in my images are an invitation to explore a rich world that is concealed from consciousness. And the scenes are an enticement to contemplate narratives that have no remarkable life or history yet tap into something deeply familiar to our experience; often disturbing, sometimes amusing‌unquestionably present.
LAST NIGHT I DREAMT I KNEW HOW TO SWIM
LAST NIGHT I DREAMT I KNEW HOW TO SWIM The first pool I remember was the one I fell into as a small child. It was at an apartment complex that my young parents lived in. I recall falling in, opening my eyes, and seeing the color of the water and the reflection of sunlight shimmering in my field of vision. My mother pulled me out of the water. I was around four years old. Eventually I became a good enough swimmer and spent the summers of my childhood and adolescence in any pool I could find. My parents were divorced by the time I was eight years old and I spent every other weekend with my dad. Back then he lived in apartment complexes; some of which had pools. My father would let my brother and I play for hours. And during the winter he would take us to hotels that had indoor pools. These stays helped us avoid the sense of loss. My father’s business endeavors were prone to sudden changes. When times were good, he lived in luxurious homes; the best ones had pools. But when the tides would turn, the moves came abruptly. There were 11 homes in 10 years. And sometimes the pools went dry. I came to learn that the presence of a pool was a distraction from how impermanent things actually were. Underneath, there loomed an impending sense that everything could be lost. Stable could quickly become unstable, and suddenly we were in over our heads. Yet the pool was always seductive. There was a comfort in the stillness of its waters, albeit a calm that couldn’t be trusted. Now, I look at pools as windows into my past, and insights into my present. Beyond their surfaces, the depths of my discoveries are seemingly infinite.
NEW MEXICO DECONSTRUCTED
NEW MEXICO DECONSTRUCTED These photographs express my desire to know something deeper about my environment through the process of decontextualizing the architectural landscape of the American southwest.. Through the use of color, light and shadow I am exploring the essential geometry of New Mexico.
INSISTENT WHISPERS
INSISTENT WHISPERS Insistent Whispers grew out of an ongoing body of work I started in 2017 to investigate aspects of the Southwest, titled The Deconstructed Self. When I started that work, I was especially interested in documenting the region’s non-historical, utilitarian architecture. About a year ago, a subset of photographs crept into this body of work. I realized that faint “presences” were appearing in my images as ghostly shadows of vegetation against otherwise the typical stucco walls that line Southwestern architecture. These intangible presences, like phantoms, were superimposed onto the built environment of man made, manufactured structures. The formal, linear framework of architecture persisted in this work as a more elusive organic element had begun entering my compositions. My initial decision to document trees and other plant forms may have been unconscious; hauntings from my internal world of dreams and untold stories. The shadows gradually asserted themselves as markers pointing to a doorway to walk through or a stairway to ascend. Other times the apparitions hovered like delicate drawings etched by light. Eventually, they covered the entire picture plane. By allowing these whispers to come forth into consciousness, their symbolic language is a reminder of the ways the past influences present life. Listening to their call and remembering that we are all governed by the presence of invisible forms – the echoes of our ancestors, our parental influences, our hidden dramas - and engagement with the mystery of these is key to becoming truer to who we are.
SOUTHWEST BY MIDDLE EAST
SOUTHWEST BY MIDDLE EAST I thought the email sent to me was spam. An invitation to be a guest of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, D.C. on a tour of the UAE along with a group of architects, architectural photographers and curators! Now, my art almost always incorporates architecture; however, my photographs are never about a particular building. I do not consider myself an architectural photographer. I know almost nothing about the field of architecture. I have always been more interested in the quiet spaces in between the important landmarks. And what I knew of the UAE, Dubai in particular, was glitz, glam and extremely tall buildings - the kind of subject matter I never shoot. As it turned out, the email was real. I accepted, part of an architectural delegation participating in a one-week cultural tour. The goal: an introduction to the UAE’s vibrant arts and culture scene and cultivation of stronger connections between U.S. and Emirati professionals working in the architectural and cultural sectors. Members of the delegation traveled to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Al Ain. The delegates met with leaders from the UAE’s top cultural institutions and foundations, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Etihad Museum, and we visited architectural and heritage sites, such as Burj Khalifa, Masdar City and Qasr Al Hosn. It was not what I expected. I found the quiet spaces in between the high rises and luxury shopping malls. I pointed my camera toward the car parks, 1980’s apartment buildings, abandoned sports facilities and random street elements. I discovered parallels between my home in the high desert of New Mexico and the desert of the Middle East. Both places are ripe with architectural archetypes – New Mexico with its adobe structures and the UAE with its fantastical, over-the-top architectural marvels. I am interested in telling an alternative story of New Mexico with my photographs, and I did the same thing in the UAE. I will always be curious about the ordinary scenes and spaces no matter where I might be. There is still an essence of the magic of the United Arab Emirates in these lesser known locations, moments of amusing order and perhaps unquestionable tension. I seek to proclaim the quiet grace of these “spaces in between” to the viewer and myself.
STATEMENT Shadows and psychological metaphors are favored photographic subjects for me. My work as a psychotherapist for over 25 years called upon me to explore what is hidden from view, those aspects of the self or the environment that we want to turn away from or simply avoid. I was particularly influenced by the work of depth psychologist Carl Jung and his exploration of the unconscious. My interest is in investigating the more banal peripheral landscapes that often go unnoticed by the casual observer. The places I frequent for my images are probably not what people visualize when they think of the city I live in, Santa Fe, a major tourist destination with a carefully cultivated image. I choose to shoot in locations that may be viewed as uninteresting or even visually off-putting. Closed and open doors, empty parking lots and forgotten swimming pools draw me into a scene; yet it is my reactions to these objects and spaces that elicit interpretation and projection. This is exciting and challenging for me, to “see” something hiding in plain sight. The symbols and spaces in my images are an invitation to explore a rich world concealed from consciousness and an enticement to contemplate narratives that have no remarkable life yet tap into something deeply familiar to our experience; often disturbing, sometimes amusing… unquestionably present. In Santa Fe, my work is inspired by commonplace architecture and streetscapes. I shoot every day and am almost never without my camera. I do not have to go anywhere special to make my photography; instead I find my images around shopping centers, apartment complexes and office parks. I dismantle these scenes, distilled down to color fields, geometry and shadow. It is our nature to ignore what is unpleasant, but sometimes I get a glimpse of the sublime in these ordinary places. When I find it, it feels like I have discovered gold.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Photographer Natalie Christensen has an inimitable, and enchanting, focus on the exploration of the more banal peripheral landscapes that often go unnoticed by the casual observer. “I quickly became aware that these isolated moments in the suburban landscape were rich with metaphor. Closed and open doors, empty parking lots and forgotten swimming pools draw me to a scene; yet it was my reactions to these objects and spaces that elicited interpretation and projection.” Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States, she has exhibited her photographs in the U.S. and internationally, including Santa Fe, New York, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, London, Berlin and Barcelona. She was recently honored as an invited guest of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, D.C. and joined a select delegation of architects, architectural photographers and curators for a oneweek cultural tour of the UAE. The Los Angeles A+D Architecture and Design Museum will host a debut of the resulting exhibition in late 2020. This UAE exhibition will travel globally with destinations to be announced. Christensen also looks forward to a major solo show with the Fort Worth Community Art Center, and Expressions West put forth by Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay, Oregon. Christensen had worked as a psychotherapist for over 25 years and was particularly influenced by the theories of depth psychologist Carl Jung. This influence is evident in her photographs, as shadows and psychological metaphors are favored subjects. The symbols and spaces in my images are an invitation to explore a rich world that is concealed from consciousness, and an enticement to contemplate narratives that have no remarkable life yet tap into something deeply familiar to our experience; often disturbing, sometimes amusing…unquestionably present.” In Santa Fe, her work is inspired by commonplace architecture and streetscapes. She realizes that the places she frequents for her images are probably not what people visualize when they think of Santa Fe, a major tourist destination with a carefully cultivated image. “I don’t have to go anywhere special to make my photography; instead I find my images around shopping centers, apartment complexes and office parks.” Choosing to shoot in locations that may be viewed as uninteresting or even visually offputting, Christensen finds this challenging, to “see” something hidden in plain sight, noting “it is our
nature to ignore what is unpleasant, but sometimes I get a glimpse of the sublime in these ordinary places. When I find it, it feels like I have discovered gold.” Christensen is repeatedly drawn to the swimming pool as a metaphor for the unconscious. In American culture, pools symbolize the luxury of leisure. Yet she also sees a darker interpretation - evoking repressed desires, unexplained tension and looming disaster. “These photographs of a manufactured oasis suggest a binary connection between the world above and the world below, linking submersion in water with the workings of the subconscious.” She dismantles all of these scenes to color fields, geometry and shadow. She shoots every day and is almost never without a camera. The Royal Photographic Society recently presented her artwork in a traveling museum exhibition throughout the United Kingdom, and had her as a guest lecturer. She led a photography workshop there, as well at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. Christensen has participated in collaborative sitespecific projects at Iconic Standard Vision Billboard, Los Angeles; El Rey Court, Santa Fe; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; and Peckham Levels, London.
CONTACT n.christensen@artworkinternational.com nataliechristensenphoto.com +1 505 982 7447 Instagram