I am a contemporary multimedia artist and curator who creates and exhibits art work that cohabits the areas of art and historical research. I am particularly interested in the counter-narratives, experiences and forms of resistance, marginalized peoples convey through media and other forms of popular culture. My work includes the use of recyclable materials, drawing and painting, printmaking, video and web-based art.
My 'Revolution' pieces are made with corrugated cardboard, which I find is an apt metaphor for my blended subjects. I first whiten the surface layer and then cut or pull off this layer to reveal brown images and hybridized portraits in a deconstructive process that is ritualistic and revelatory. Cardboard often associated with trade, transport and movement, is also known for its adaptability, a curious mixture of strength and fragility and is seen as a low cost option that is easily discarded and often recycled.
My media work – Kinlinks explores my fascination with popular culture and resistance movements in a pseudo-scientific manner with the creation of a faux web-based genetic testing corporation which allows surfers to investigate the African/Black origin and influences of a number of western icons and iconography, such as Mickey Mouse, Medusa, the dozens etc. This work employs humour and satire to comment on lost histories, science, race and the nature of resistance. The site is located at www.kinlinks.net.
Artist Bio:
Born and raised in Trinidad, Natalie obtained her studio training at Ontario College of Art and Design and went on to complete an MA in Art Education from the University of Toronto in 2000. Her works have been presented nationally and internationally in several group exhibitions (Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art 2007), International Art Fairs (Artist Project Toronto 2010, Nuit Blanche 2007, Toronto Alternative Art Fair International, 2006,), and film and video festivals (the New York Mix Film and Video Festival, Inside Out, Images, Pleasure Dome and Mpenzi Film and Video festival where she won the Audience Choice Award in 2006). She has had solo shows at ASpace Gallery windows, Zsa Zsa Gallery and following on residencies at the Spadina Museum House and at the Caribbean Contemporary Art Centre 7 in Trinidad. A recipient of numerous awards from the Toronto, Ontario and Canada Council for the Arts, she received the 2006 New Pioneers Award for contribution to the Arts in Toronto and was nominated for the 2006 K. M Hunter Interdisciplinary Arts Award for her web-based project Kinlinks which is online for viewing at www.kinlinks.net.
