Natasha Wright

Natasha Wright (b. 1987 Aotearoa, New Zealand) is a New Zealand born artist based in New York. Wright’s practice explores and redresses the depiction of woman-as-subject throughout history. Her large-scale paintings fuse figuration and abstraction in intricately layered compositions; referencing traditional modes of portraiture within contemporary contexts.
 
Drawing from portrayals of women throughout antiquity to modern day advertising campaigns and fashion shoots, Wright’s works are grounded in the history of our image making; whilst presenting something instinctively unique.
 
Blurring the boundaries between the internal self and the externally built personas we create, Wright’s paintings explore concepts of gender and sexuality. Her figures emerge as powerful beings that subvert performed and projected ideas of womanhood.
 
Utilising neo-expressionism, vivid colour and a bold use of line Wright’s depiction of the female form is that of strength and virtue. Her figures are sensual but never passive - Her subjects are central, confident and determined.
 
‘Each artwork has been built-up in layers with flat brushes, used to apply broad swathes of thick oil paint that deliver a captivating tactility. Bright pops of colour feel urgent and impactful against the paintings’ dark backgrounds, while the female figures seem to inhabit an in-between space that links past and present; existing within a kind of classical painting canon while simultaneously expressing something that feels anchored in a contemporary context.’[1]
 
Wright studied at the Central Saint Martins School of Art in London in 2013 and received her MFA from The New York Studio School in 2017. She was awarded The New York Studio School Scholarship, The Jane Chace Carroll Merit Award and the LCU Award. Her work has been featured in Art Critical, ArtZone, Denizen, The New Zealand Artist Magazine and The New Zealand Herald. In 2018, Wright’s solo show at SFA Projects, New York, was named one of the five best female art exhibitions in New York City by Harper’s Bazaar.
 
Wright has exhibited in New Zealand, the United States and Australia. Solo shows include: What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This (M Contemporary, Sydney, Australia, 2023) After Party (Sanderson Contemporary, Auckland, 2022), Sista Grotto (Spring Break Art Fair, New York 2020), When Black Swallows Red (John Davis Gallery, New York, 2019), Sista Chapel (SFA Projects, New York, 2019) and Angels and Icons (Parlour Projects, Hawkes Bay, 2019).

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