About
statement
Seven years ago I experienced an unplanned move to New Mexico from Kentucky where I had spent my entire life. This move was coupled with a decision to leave my career as a psychotherapist and my professional identity behind. While it was an exciting move, it was also a time of reflection and questioning. Like many artists who come to the southwest, I was immediately drawn to the light and the surreal qualities it creates in negative space. I began studying the color fields, geometric shapes and juxtapositions created by the light and shadow. The beauty of this environment is clear to most people; however, my interest was to explore the more banal suburban landscapes that may not be noticed by the casual observer and to draw attention to the drama that is missed. I am using symbols and shapes, line and shadow, to present psychological metaphors in the landscape. Closed and open doors, shadows and swimming pools draw me to a scene as they invite conjecture. My images emphasize what is happening within the frame and invite the viewer to contemplate what is happening outside the edges but can't be seen. For me, the symbols and spaces speak to a part of the self that is just below the conscious mind, asking to be understood, even integrated. It's a reminder that there is always something there, below the surface of awareness, threatening to reveal something new.
bio
Santa Fe, New Mexico photographer Natalie Christensen’s focus is on banal peripheral settings. Influenced by 25 years as a psychotherapist, her photos favor psychological metaphors.
Christensen has exhibited in noted museums and galleries in the U.S. and internationally, was a UAE Embassy invitee for a UAE Architecture Delegation tour, has been invited as Artist-in-Residence to Chateau d'Orquevaux, France and a photobook, “007 – Natalie Christensen,” has recently been published by Setanta Books, London. She has guest lectured at the Royal College of Art and led photography workshops at The Royal Photographic Society, London and Meow Wolf, Santa Fe.
Christensen is the recipient of several prestigious photography awards, has work in permanent collections and publications featuring her work include The Guardian, The Observer, Creative Boom, The British Journal of Photography, LandEscape Art Review, Art Reveal Magazine and Aesthetica Magazine. Christensen is represented by Catherine et Andre Hug Galerie, Paris; Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe; Nordic Art Agency, Malmo; and Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONs
2023
Group Exhibition Seasons Exhibition, The Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, Scotland November 1-29, 2023
Group Exhibition of New Mexico Artists, Transcendent, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM September 15, 2023 - December 2023
Solo Collaborative Exhibition with Jim Eyre, TOGETHER/APART, Nordic Art Agency, Malmo, Sweden, June 15, 2023 - August 31, 2023
Group Exhibition Viral Human. Public Art and Metaverse, Venice, Italy July 17 - November 2, 2023
Group Exhibition, Women to the Front, Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ, June - July 2023
2022
Juried Exhibition, Stories from my Childhood, Northern Illinois State University, November 29, 2022 - February 17, 2023
Group exhibition RESPONSE, Pie Projects, Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 23-Oct 24, 2022
Street Installation with Jim Eyre, SHIFTINGSCAPES, Soho and Mayfair locations, London, UK Aug 22 -29 and Aug 22 - September 5, 2022
Solo Exhibition, The Deconstructed Self, Sahara West Gallery, Las Vegas, NV June 16 - Sept 6, 2022
Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, The Mound April 23 - June 12 ,2022
Solo Collaborative Exhibition with Jim Eyre, TOGETHER/APART, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM March 11 - April 18, 2022
Juried Exhibition, curated by Alexis Lowry, Senior Curator Dia Foundation, HIGH CONTRAST, Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY March 14 - April 11, 2022
Invited Exhibiting Artist, The Reconstructed/Deconstructed Self, Intersect Arts Center, St. Louis, MO, March 28 - May 20, 2022
Showcase artist and juror, Juried Group NFT Exhibition, An Invitation, hosted by Art.3io and New Art City, April 2022
2021
Solo Exhibition, The Deconstructed Self, Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, TX November 5 - December 11, 2021
Juried Exhibition, ArtsThrive, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM October 9 - December 5, 2021
Solo Exhibition, Limits, Galerie Catherine et Andre Hug, Paris, France September 16 - October 31, 2021
Juried Exhibition, Real or Imagined Juried by Clare Bell, Director of Exhibitions, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA June 16 - July 15, 2021
Solo Exhibition, Semblances of Thresholds and Boundaries, Nordic Art Agency in conjunction with Copenhagen Photo Festival, Malmo, Sweden June 3 - June 30, 2021
Juried Exhibition, Expressions West 2021 , Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR April - June 2021
Art Auction 53, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT January 22 - March 6, 2021
2020
International Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA Nov 14- Dec 20, 2020
Top 10 Finalist: In Isolation: You, Me, We, Lucie Foundation & Musee Magazine Exhibition, August - September, 2020
Solstice: Create Art for Earth Juried by Judy Chicago, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM June 20 - August 12, 2020
Art in the West Juried Exhibition, High Desert Museum, Bend OR August 1 - October 3, 2020
Making a Way Juried Exhibition, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN June 1 - December 27, 2020
Taking Pictures, 2020, Juried Exhibition, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR April 1 - 20, 2020
Representing the West: A New Frontier, Juried Exhibition, Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, Pueblo, CO January 28 - March 19, 2020
2019
Solo exhibition, “The Deconstructed Self” Galerie Minimal Berlin, Germany August 3 - October 4, 2019
Escape International Juried Exhibition, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, Kansas August 2-30, 2019
5th Annual Group Show, David Orton Gallery, juried by Paula Tognarelli Curator Griffin Museum of Photography Hudson, NY July 20 - August 11, 2019
Solo exhibition, “Last night I dreamt I knew how to swim” Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico April-May, 2019
Solo collaborative exhibition with Jim Eyre, alteredstates/alteredscapes, Turner Carroll Gallery and El Rey Court, Santa Fe, NM April 19-21, 2019
A Year of Making Meaning: New Additions to the Collection 2019, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, April - June 2019
Royal Photographic Society International Exhibition 161, touring the United Kingdom Feb - Dec, 2019
Artist Talk, Royal Photographic Society, Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham, UK March, 30, 2019
Group Exhibition, Treat America Foley Gallery, New York, New York - January 2019
2018
Solo exhibition Altered Perspective, Turner Carroll Gallery, September 7- Oct 2, 2018
Solo collaborative exhibition with Jim Eyre, alteredstates/alteredscapes, UNM School of Architecture Gallery, September 14 - October 11, 2018
Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Contemporary Photography 2008-2018 juried by Kristen Gaylord July 13 - August 2018
Invited Photographer, The National: Best of Contemporary Photography 2018, Fort Wayne Museum of Art April-July 2018
Artist Talk, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, April 2018
Solo collaborative exhibition with Jim Eyre, alteredstates/alteredscapes at Peckham Levels, London, U.K. February -April, 2018
33rd Annual International Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, University of Texas at Tyler January 22 - March 9, 2018
alteredstates/alteredscapes, exhibited on the Standard Vision Screen in downtown Los Angeles, CA. January, 2018
Griffin Museum of Photography, virtual gallery feature of "The Deconstructed Self" June - September 2018
Invited photographer for an electronic collaboration as part of Shifting Light: Photographic Perspectives at New Mexico Museum of Art, Mar 4-10, 2018
2017
Juried Group Show, Primary to Tertiary - Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY November 3 - December 3, 2017
Two person exhibition, "Light Minded" Actors Theatre Gallery, Louisville, KY Sept 1 - Nov 2, 2017
Work x 5 Invitational Group Show - Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA (March)
Juried Group Show - Onomato Kunstleverein, Dusseldorf, Germany (February). Voted the "People's Choice" winner.
2016
The Salon Show Invitational - Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Invited Cover Artist, special edition for the Vladem Contemporary Museum, Pasatiempo Magazine, The Santa Fe New Mexican September 2023
7 *** NATALIE CHRISTENSEN, published by Setanta Books and Open Doors Gallery, London. May, 2021
The Guardian/The Observer Natalie Christensen - Sunlit Santa Fe, Images of New Mexico June 2021
British Journal of Photography, Natalie Christensen - Shaping America, June 2021
Aesthetica Magazine, Natalie Christensen - Visual Archetypes, June 2021
APERO, Featured Artist, June 2021
Creative Boom, Featured Artist, May 2021
All About Photo, Featured Artist, May 2021
MVIBE magazine, Featured Artist, March 2021
Superpresent Magazine, Featured Artist, Spring 2021
Santa Clara Review, Vol. 108/Issue 1 Fall 2020
Musee Magazine, Number 24, Identity Winter 2020
Into The Void Magazine, Featured Artist, August 2020
Collater.al Magazine, Natalie Christensen and the Eerie Calm of Pools, July, 2020
Plain Magazine, Featured Artist, June 2020
Creative Boom, Featured Artist, April 2020
NR Magazine, Featured Artist, April 2020
LandEscape Contemporary Art Review, Featured Artist, September, 2019
Better Photography Magazine, Cover Story “The Unusual Magic of Form, Colour and Geometry” featured artist, September, 2019.
Magazine 43, Cover Story and featured artist, September, 2019
Visual Art Source, Editorial Feature, Review of Natalie Christensen, “Last Night I dreamt I knew how to swim” at Turner Carroll Gallery, April - May, 2019
The Plus Paper, The Psychology of Urban Minimalism, December 2018
THE Magazine, Contemporary Art and Culture in Santa Fe and New Mexico Volume XXVI, Issue VII, portfolio feature, "Natalie Christensen -The Deconstructed Self"
Musee Magazine, Natalie Christensen -Weekend Portfolio, November 2017
Lens Culture Magazine Natalie Christensen - Deconstructing the Self in America’s Southwest, 2017
COS -Things Natalie Christensen, 2017
Ignant.com Dynamic Pixilated Sculptures by Natalie Christensen, March 2017
Jungle Magazine, In Conversation with Natalie Christensen, July 2017
AWARDS/RECOGNITION
Aesthetica Art Prize, long listed 2023
First place winner in Fine Art Category, Minimalist Photo Awards, August 2022
Invited Artist, COVID and CREATIVITY, De-Generate Program panelist SITE SANTA FE, March 2022
Artist Residency, Chateau d’Orquevaux, Denis Dedirot Grant, 2020
Top 10 Finalist, Lucie Foundation, In Isolation: You, Me, We, August, 2020
Honorable mention, International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation, September 2019
Invited Panelist, Center and Turner Carroll Gallery, Bridging the Gap: Photography and Contemporary Art. Santa Fe, NM April 19, 2019
alteredstatesalteredscapes.com Launch at Review Santa Fe Photography Festival, October 19-20, 2018
Second place winner, 2018 International Juried Exhibition, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, March 8 - 31, 2018
11th Julia M. Cameron Award, Honorable Mention.
Finalist, Smithsonian.com 15th Annual Photo Contest, "Go Deeper", Altered Images category. 2018
Purchase Award winner, 33rd Annual International Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, University of Texas at Tyler 2018
Featured photograph for Center Santa Fe's 2018 campaign "Gestalt at Monument Valley".2017
Chromatic Awards, honorable mention for "Go Deeper and On Shaky Ground"
Finalist, Critical Mass 2017, 2019 Photolucida
Collections
Selected for “Art in Public Places”, New Mexico Arts, 2019, 2023
Permanent collection, purchase award for "Are these chairs taken?" University of Texas at Tyler, Department of Art and Art History
Permanent collection, Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Private collections worldwide
REPRESENTATION
Catherine et Andre Hug Galerie Paris, France www.galeriehug.com
Turner Carroll Gallery Santa Fe, New Mexico www.turnercarrollgallery.com
Nordic Art Agency Malmo, Sweden www.nordicartagency.com
Susan Spiritus Gallery Newport Beach, California www.susanspiritusgallery.com