1. NATALIA, WELCOME TO “I D̶O̶N̶'̶T̶ DO INTERVIEWS”! WE’RE SO GLAD TO HAVE YOU AS OUR FIRST GUEST OF THE NEW SEASON. HOW HAVE THE PAST FEW MONTHS BEEN FOR YOU?

Thanks for having me! Hmm, the last few months have been super hectic after a sort of dormant year. Suddenly loads of previously planned/scheduled/new/fresh things happened so quite overwhelming tbh but exciting at the same time. THE LAST ONE AND A HALF YEAR HAS BEEN A MAJOR REWIRING FOR ME THOUGHT-WISE, REALISATION-WISE IN A BROADER SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT AS WELL AS ARTISTICALLY, SO I’m NOW SORT OF DIGESTING/EMBRACING.

2. BIOLOGY, ANATOMY, THE SYMBOLIC MEANINGS BEHIND THE BODY AND ITS FRAGMENTED PARTS, THEY ALL HOLD A PROMINENT POSITION IN YOUR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE. HOW DOES YOUR STUDY OF THESE FIELDS AND CONCEPTS HELP YOU MAP OUT YOUR APPROACH TO A NEW PROJECT?

I am interested in observing and playing with relationships between materials, nature, technological processes and the body/embodiment. Then I speculate on a potential negotiation between these notions. Rooted in an interest in speculative narratives, my practice examines the natural environment, the concept of functionality and the exploration of the body’s positioning within synthetic surroundings.

I think the way it works- is sort of like osmosis, things are coming from different directions, all areas of life really and intersecting. What is mostly leading to a new project is holding onto a feeling that I am trying to develop at the time and working with the content towards generating/sustaining this feeling.

Fragmentation and body are often present in my work as ideas but come in different forms - more recently in a more humorous, performative, nonsensical on a surface manner. I sometimes think of myself as a bit of a magpie - I see things from various sources which interest me suddenly which I then want to incorporate in some way into my work, and these then generate a new meaning from being re-contextualised in this way.

3. IN YOUR WORK WE WITNESS THE ‘NATURAL' MERGING WITH THE ‘ARTIFICIAL' TO CREATE AN INTRIGUING, UNCANNY FUTUROLOGY. WHAT DOES THIS FUSION OF PHYSICAL AND SYNTHETIC ENTITIES MEAN TO YOU as an artist?

I guess I feel like this term 'natural', or like, what is or can be considered to be so, is always changing - we as a species are constantly re-appraising our approach or definition to what constitutes this. The same goes for ‘artificial’ - the two have a habit of blending into each other over time and as artists we have the privilege of being able to play along the slippery boundaries of these things. I think this is a really interesting and exciting place actually to be and work within.

4. IN CONTEMPORARY ART SPECIAL INTEREST SEEMS TO BE TAKEN IN THE EXPOSITION OF THE IDEA OF 'RESIDUE’. IS, IN YOUR OPINION, ‘RESIDUE' BECOMING AN INTEGRAL PART OF WHAT WE CALL 'NATURE', ‘ENVIRONMENT’? SUBSEQUENTLY, WHAT’S BECOMING OF NATURE AS WE KNOW IT AND IN WHAT WAYS IS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO IT CHANGING?

It's almost as if we can measure our engagement with our surroundings, our environment based both on what we add, as well as what we leave behind - which in the end become the same thing anyway. But this stuff, all of this detritus - so much of it used to be functional and their forms are still recognisable and some of their function can be returned through their re-appropriation by artists. I think this is an extension of the readymade - there is this environmental dimension which we have to think about and this cyclical re-cycling, re-imaging and re-casting of the old into the new on and on again.

5. WHAT ABOUT YOUR OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE? ARE YOU A FAN OF RURAL, URBAN OR MIXED LANDSCAPES?

Hmm, in one word: a mixed landscape, I go to nature frequently but also miss the urban area when away for too long - most of the time I look for nature in the urban spaces or/and vice versa. There is also this term, ‘third landscape', coined by Gilles Clémen being the sum of the space left over by man to landscape evolution - to nature alone. Included in this category are left behind urban or rural sites, transitional spaces, neglected land (friches), swamps, moors, peat bogs, but also roadsides, shores, railroad embankments, etc. I mean I am just thinking out loud in terms of what a landscape may be..

6. NAME A FEW THINGS THAT THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS AKA THE 'PANDEMIC ERA', HAVE HELPED YOU REALISE.

Priorities, time, focus. It was a gift of time, actually - I was fortunate in that I had much more of it to spend pursuing things which I'd been meaning to for a while, but hadn't maybe allowed myself to before. This resulted in connecting with my work in quite a different way and I've gone in directions that I may not have conceived of otherwise. I also realised what I don't want or need, so it helped me to be more selective, more specific and focused.

7. WHICH ONE OF YOUR PROJECTS WOULD YOU DESCRIBE AS THE MOST CHALLENGING SO FAR AND WHY?

I think my recent project reherseal has been the most challenging to date for various reasons. For example, working in such a big space and being surrounded by multiple artists; working with objects and performers - to choreograph the installation as well as the performance within it, making these two entities distinct from each other yet connected. Also this sort of being inside and outside at the same time. In times of materiality it also has been the most expansive and experimental project, a combination of hard, shiny metal objects, soft fabrics, latex, electronics, fragmented rubber and ceramic body parts and liquid matter amongst others.

8. IF YOU WEREN’T WORKING AS AN ARTIST, WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU RATHER BE DOING?

psychodynamic therapist or working at an owl sanctuary.

9. TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR CURRENT A/O FUTURE ARTISTIC PLANS.

Currently I am metabolising my recent residency in Venice and working on a short mixed reality film based on my research there. I'm going to have some de-compression time after my last show, to take stock and think about some of the things that came up for me and my new collaborators. Then I'll be working towards an exhibition in London in early spring 2022.

10. WHAT QUESTION WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED US TO ASK YOU AND WHAT WOULD BE THE ANSWER?

Maybe something about my studio space - where and how I work and my approach to putting things together. A person's making space can tell you a lot about their practice... I am also thinking of a satirical piece the sculptor's studio (Mel Brimfield,2012) a carefully arranged junk -shop debris, art works and other artefacts - to make a visitor/viewer feel part of the joke, part of the story/ies and so on.