Natalie Preston
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Baltimore Penance
2020
Oil on canvas
24 x 72 inches
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End of Days Sunset
2020
Oil on canvas
40 x 40 inches
Statement
My work is about combining portraiture, landscape, and abstraction to create fictional environments and narratives that are reminiscent of my home and the various places in which I have found myself since childhood. My most recent paintings explore religion and its presence, both conscious and unconscious, in everyday life, familial relationships, and personal identity. Within each painting I create fictional environments composed of elements of the spiritual world, real world, institution of religion, and the world of my own perception. In some instances these environments exist together harmoniously, while in others they are at odds with each other, thus creating conflict. These imagined spaces contain ambiguous narratives rooted in personal experiences that question and explore truth, reality, perception, and the potential for their manipulation by external factors. Drawing from recognizable religious iconography, rituals, and symbolism as well as the colors, landscapes, architecture, and decorative elements of my childhood home in Miami and my current home in Baltimore, I hope to anchor these narratives in a reality that viewers can connect with and use to reflect on their own experiences.