Natasha Bieniek

About the artist: Turning mundane, everyday or common situations and transforming them into something more provocative or intriguing is the key focus of my work. With a subject of ordinary life, capturing a moment reflects the youth of today in a smooth painterly manner. Influenced by the vitality and exuberance of the Baroque period with the ordinarily beautiful scenes of 17th century Dutch art my work becomes a mixture of the past and present. With an interest in the preciseness of classic art my work has a contrasting element that explores modern themes of technology, mass production and popular culture. Artificial surroundings and lighting effects create a theatrical quality within the work. There’s a sense of ambiguity in my work that is provoked by my figures gaze, a gaze that is often banal and uncertain, which forms a narrative with the viewer. There’s an eerie seriousness seen in my figures, which demands the attention of the viewer. I do not paint reality but rather a fabricated version of reality seen through the eyes of a camera, staged and set up. Areas of bold, striking colour enhance aesthetic pleasure. The figures used are often from various racial backgrounds that are seen in Melbourne’s diverse multicultural society. Its genre painting with a twist of the artificial
Education: 2004-06 Bachelor of Fine Art, Victorian College of the Arts, currently year 3
2003 Certificate, Brighton Bay, Art, design and photography program.
Exhibitions: Group Exhibitions

2007 Commencing in March “Wieder” Forty Five Downstairs Gallery, Melbourne

2006 “Wallara Travelling Scholarship” (short listed) VCA Margaret
Lawrence Gallery Southbank
“Mt Waverly Art Show”, Mt Waverly
‘Painting Department Show” VCA student Gallery, Southbank

2005 “Making conditions of love” MARS Gallery, Port Melbourne
“Proud” VCA Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Southbank
“Slips of the mind’ VCA Student Gallery, Southbank
“Painting department Show” VCA Student Galley, Southbank

2004 “Proud” VCA Margeret Lawrence Gallery, South Bank
“Painting Department Show” VCA Gallery, Southbank

2003 “Brighton Bay Graduate Exhibition” Elwood Community Centre

2002 “Sandringham College Graduate Exhibition” Without Pier Gallery, Sandringham

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