Natalia Szostak, born in 1980 in Szczecin. In 2007 she received her B.A. in painting and drawing from San Francisco State University in California. Two years later she received an Emerging Artist Special Award in an International Art Competition organised by X-Power Gallery in Los Angeles. She is included in the 24th Polish Contemporary Painting Festival in Szczecin. She is a graduate (M.A.) of Art Academy in Szczecin. She is a double recipient of the Artist Scholarship of the City of Szczecin. Her work includes painting, photography, video, and various mixed media. It has been shown in Poland, Belgium, Great Britain, USA and Lithuania. Currently she lives in Szczecin.

This exhibition is the effect of the artist’s recent work dedicated to the somatic experience of reality. Anchored inside the temporal world and simultaneously spirited – the body is a liminal place, where the supposition of matters’ sanctity becomes fulfilled. Human figure –the exhibition’s main character – is both an author and an image – using the body, she makes pictures. Thanks to them she comes alive as an icon – a reservoir of presence, an imperfect reflection of the world.

Holy! Contemporary icon in a city landscape.This work is a kind of synthesis of my continued artistic activity with special attention given to graphic design as a method of reaching a random viewer outside a gallery or museum space. Religious folk woodcuts as well as the phenomenon of Warsaw shrines, which appeared as surrogate places for prayer during World War II, were inspirations. These religious references are not accidental. In my work, I draw inspiration from sacral art as it performs a definite cognitive and an ideological function. Following its forms, I make my own statements about problems that engage me. In this case, it is a proposal of a contemporary icon.

Exhibiton is organised within a project TERMINAL08 – INTERNATIONAL ART GALLERY – ART AS EXPERIENCE 2012 supported by Gorzow City Council.
Terminal08 is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 6pm or by appointment – 0048 788 365 737 or bart@terminal08.org