Natasha Karpinskaia
Natasha Karpinskaia is a Russian artist who studied linguistics at the University of Linguistics in Moscow before continuing her education in art history at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. She also studied in the art history department at Columbia University in their PhD program and went on to share her expertise by teaching Western European art at New York Academy of Fine Arts. Karpinskaia is currently a full-time artist and teaches painting, mixed-media collage, and printmaking. She has participated in many solo and juried shows throughout the United States and abroad.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I adore printmaking, especially monotypes. I feel like it is totally my medium; I have control, but yet it is magically unpredictable. I love working in layers that somehow create the sense of time, and the sense of unreal. Color is essential; I want the color to overwhelm. Line is very important; I want it to be fragile and delicate and almost surreal.
Humor is an essential element in my work. I like to laugh at myself and at the ridiculousness of human nature, and I like the viewer to share this experience with me and have a good time. However, the sense of aesthetics is also important; I try to convey a certain sense of beauty and elegance in my work.
I think my art history background helps me a great deal. I constantly analyze and compare my work, and it’s almost like being engaged in self-analysis.