ABOUT. Natalia Drachinskaya

Artist statement

The central object of interest in my artistic practice is the subjective study of the mechanism of construction and re-cutting of memory. Memory as an illusion, a mirage, can be assembled and reassembled into an infinite number of combinations depending on experience and context. One of the most important properties of memory for me is retroactivity, which Slavoj Zizek writes about in “The Event” — the ability to change the present and the future through the re-construction of the past. 

Through the practice of collage, sculpture and photography, I try to identify the reassembling algorithms under the influence of which personal memory is constructed. In my research, I work both 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 most often work with concrete, it refers to Soviet childhood, 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.

ABOUT. Natalia Drachinskaya
ABOUT. Natalia Drachinskaya
ABOUT. Natalia Drachinskaya
ABOUT. Natalia Drachinskaya

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 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  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 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)