Artist Statement
I’m a sculptor and a collage artist. I was born in Russia, then lived in UAE, and now I’m based in the Santa Clara, California, USA.
The central theme in my artistic practice is the subjective study of the mechanism of de-construction and re-construction of memories. For me, one of the most significant traits of memory is retroactivity, which Slavoj Zizek writes about in “The Event”: the ability to change the present and the future through the reconstruction of the past.
Through the practice of collage, sculpture, and photography, I identify the reassembling algorithms of memories. In my research, I work with personal memories and stories and rely on theoretical sources: “Memory of Memory” by Maria Stepanova and “Coinsidentology: A Short Introduction to the Method” by Yoel Regev.
One of the methods of my artistic research is cutting-gluing. The collage, co-incidental gesture applies not only to paper but also to photography and sculptural materials. In sculpture, I primarily work with concrete; it refers to Soviet childhood and Soviet architecture. Concrete is the foundation material, a metaphorical reflection of the role of memory in the construct of self-identification. Concrete, like memory, can exist in different states and forms: be cold or heated by the sun, be hard or cracked, and concrete is also a heavy material. Its heaviness can be metaphorically compared to the baggage of personal memory and traumatic experience.
CV
Education
2019 — 2021 ICA Moscow
2019 — 2020 Fotodepartament
2018 — 2019 Project school curated by Alla Mirovskaya (Moscow)
2017 — 2017 Master-class “Material experiments with photography” (FOAM, Amsterdam)
Art Residences
2022 Photobook as an Object (RPS, Tokyo, Japan)
2022 The Concrete Symposium sculptural residency (Szigetmonostor, Hungary)
2019 Autumn Awakeness art-residence be M42 (Tbilisi)
2018-2019 “Writing the place” art-residence by Cultural Center ZIL (Moscow)
Exhibitions
2023 Annual exhibition in the Pacific Art League (Palo Alto, CA, USA)
2023 Dream Space gamified meta verse project with support of Chimera Platform, UK (solo project)
2023 Photobook as an Object (RPS Kyoto Paperoles, Kyoto, Japan)
2022 “Paper dialogue” collective collage performance in the Ren House gallery (Dubai, UAE)
2022 BETON ARCAI 7.0 (Nick Gallery, Pécs, Hungary)
2022 ““Perevorot_illustrated” (Yerevan, St. Petersburg, Moscow, New York and Easton)
2022 “Art of the future” biennale by Multimedia Art Museum (Moscow, Russia)
2021 “I don’t see boarders or where dragons live” (Peschanaya Gallery, Moscow) 2021 “Time of Things” (Winzavod, Moscow)
2021 “Constructor_Death” (Constructor space, Saint-Petersburg)
2021 “(In)visible cities” (Nagornaya gallery, Moscow)
2021 “Home sweet home” (Zverev Center of Contemporary Art, Moscow) 2020 “TemperatYRA 2.0” (Electrozavod gallery, Moscow)
2020 “Photobook and zin: dummy” (Winzavod, Moscow)
2020 “Regard (less)”, (Cube gallery, Moscow)
2020 Blazar art fair
2020 “Baseless” (Winzavod, Moscow)
2020 “Winter is here”, Gilyarovsky Center, Moscow (collective)
2019 Collage exhibition, Gilyarovsky Center, Moscow (collective)
2019 “Presence” international festival of contemporary photography by Fotodepartament (St-Pete)
2019 “Digitaion / Family Diamonds”, art gallery “The Arc”, Uglich (solo)
2019 “MoscowMorphosis”, Gilyarovsky Center, Moscow
2018 “Together/ separately” — exhibition of the art-class of Alla Mirovskaya, Sreda, Moscow
2018 “Pro_live” — exhibition of the art-class of Alla Mirovskaya, Photoparade festival, Uglich
2018 Street Sans Frontières, Paris, France
2018 Festival of contemporary art “Art-subject”, Vladimir, Russia
Awards
2023 Shortlisted in the Portrait: Single image category by the Contemporary Collage Magazine Awards
2023 Binom photobook project is shortlisted by Photobook Award EI 2023 (Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portugal)
2017 LensCulture Street Photography awards (editors choice)
2017 London Street Photography (finalist)
2017 Monochrome Awards (honorable mention)
2016 IPA CIS (honorable mention)
Bio
Nata Drachinskaya is a sculptor and collage artist based in Santa Clara, CA, USA. She works with the theme of personal and collective memory. She was born in Russia and her childhood experience is a part of her works. Concrete is her favourite sculptural material as it’s linked with the architectural style of USSR and personal memories.
Nata graduated Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA Moscow, Russia), participated in art residencies in Japan, Hungary, Georgia, Russia. She works with sculpture, photography, collage, video, performance.
Her works has been exhibited in the places such as Pacific Art League (Palo Alto, CA, USA), Nick Gallery (Pécs, Hungary), Art Kvartal (Yerevan, Armenia), Tbilisi Multimedia Museum (Tbilisi, Georgia), Street Sans Frontier (Paris, France), CCA Winzavod (Moscow, Russia), MOMMA (Moscow, Russia), MAMM (Moscow, Russia), Cube Moscow (Russia), “Presence” Festival by Fotodepartament (Saint-Petersburg, Russia), Festival of contemporary art “Art-subject” (Vladimir, Russia), Blazar art fair (Moscow, Russia) etc.