Santa Fe, New Mexico photographer Natalie Christensen’s focus is on banal peripheral settings. Influenced by 25 years as a psychotherapist, her photos favor psychological metaphors. She deconstructs to color fields, geometry, and shadow. “Sometimes I get a glimpse of the sublime in these ordinary places.”
Christensen has exhibited in noted museums and galleries in the U.S. and internationally, was a UAE Embassy invitee for a UAE Architecture Delegation tour, has been invited as Artist-in-Residence to Chateau d'Orquevaux, France, and a photobook, “007 – Natalie Christensen,” has recently been published by Setanta Books, London. She has guest lectured at the Royal College of Art and led photography workshops at The Royal Photographic Society, London and Meow Wolf, Santa Fe.
Christensen is the recipient of several prestigious photography awards, has work in permanent collections and publications include The Guardian, Creative Boom, The British Journal of Photography, Musee Magazine, Art Reveal Magazine and Aesthetica Magazine.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
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 amusing…unquestionably present.
https://nataliechristensenphoto.com
On exhibit at Sahara West Library from June 14, 2022 through September 6, 2022
Monday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Tuesday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Wednesday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Thursday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Friday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Saturday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Sunday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
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