Interview
Natalie Egger
Natalie is an independent artist in the field of photography, digital art, visual art and street art. She has been featured in the art book CONTEMPORARY Celebrity Masters, Volume II 2023, curated by Francesco Saverio Russo and Salvatore Russo as well as in the official catalogue of the event “5th International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci” and in the official catalogue of the event “International Prize Pegasus for the Arts” (2023). She is the winner of the 5th International Prize Leonardo da Vinci, organised by Fondazione Effetto Arte, curated by Salvatore Russo and Francesco Saverio Russo (2023) as well as the winner of the International Prize Michelangelo - genius of Italy, organised by Fondazione Effetto Arte, curated by Salvatore Russo and Francesco Saverio Russo (2023). Her recent group exhibitions include Transformation, Kulturzentrum Purbach, Purbach (2023) and Open Art - Salzburg, Artnumber23 art gallery, Rudolfskai 54, Salzburg (2023).
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I studied art and economy at the university of Applied Arts in Vienna. I participated in several figurative drawing classes by Irina Georgieva and painting classes by Juliana Do. I started my journey back in 2015, when I began a collaboration with a social media friend. Our art collaboration was an Instagram account, where I complemented the writing of my friend with my photographical edits. After that, I was highly engaged in art photography, where I took pictures of random things in the city which caught my attention and afterwards merged different photos into something completely different. In 2017, I began to visit several drawing courses, mostly figurative drawing and portrait drawing. Since then, drawing as well as painting is something I do on a regular basis. In 2018. I joined the university of Applied Arts Vienna for a master study, where I made a deep dive into street art and wrote my master thesis about “The influence of social networks on the art movement Street Art and their impact on the level of popularity of female street artists – by the example of Instagram” in 2019. In 2020, my first artbook was published. Since then, I was part of a few group exhibitions in and near Vienna and Salzburg/Austria and of three small street art projects. Beside drawing, painting and photography I sometimes write experimental texts and occasionally shoot short films.”
What inspires you?
“I am inspired by random things that I encounter by coincidence during my strolls through the city or during my travels when it comes to my digital artworks. My acrylic paintings as well as pencil drawings reflect my fascination with the human face as well as the body and their various forms of expression. I find inspiration for my motifs in dance, performance theater and fashion.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“My acrylic paintings as well as pencil drawings reflect my fascination with the human face as well as the body and their various forms of expression. I find inspiration for my motifs in dance, performance theater and fashion. The basis for my digital art as well as my photographs are mostly close ups of things, buildings, nature, sky/clouds or situations that I find by chance on my strolls through the city or during my travels. From these random encounters, I then create snapshots, to deconstruct them at a later time then consciously by the fusion of usually two to four photographs, often also combined with my pencil drawings. With most motifs, the viewer does not see at first glance who or what my subject is. It is always shown only a section of the whole, here is deliberately set by me a subjective focus on the counterpart. Thus, these captured motifs do not necessarily appear as they would appear in reality from the point of view of an observer. Out of this process, a completely new digital work is created in the sense of a transformation of my original photographs into something completely new.”
“I find inspiration for my motifs in dance, performance theater and fashion.”
How would you describe your work?
“I think my work is not one dimensional; it is extremely varied. It tackles with different kind of art media like digital art, photography, pencil drawings, acrylic painting, writing and street art.”
Which artists influence you most?
“There are no specific artists; except maybe when it comes to my portraits the Alte Meister/Old Masters - but more I am fascinated by patterns and structures and close ups of everyday life and everyday things.”
What is your creative process like?
“"To be creatively active means for me to find /invent my own track beyond the mind." This quote of mine can be found on my website and it sums up what "making art" is about for me: It's about creating something for the sake of creating, in the spirit of l'art pour l'art. It's about the process of artistic creation not so much about the result. Since I do a lot of mental work in my day job, I enjoy having the freedom in the artistic process not to have to think about the result, not to think at all while creating. I enjoy turning off my head and letting myself be guided by impressions that come to me from the outside world, which are then processed internally and finally brought back to the outside world as an expression of my inner life, as a work of art in whatever form.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“For me, the role of the artist is strongly connected with the role of art in society: so art is something which should not be detached, aloof or elitist. It should be available for everyone and should not be limited to mostly already dead artists showcasing their work in museums. Art should be available in a more democratic way, it should be accessible for all people, not only for the so called intellectuals. Therefore, I like the way art is presented online and via social media nowadays as this gives everyone who checks out the internet the possibility to search for artworks and enjoy art from different artists all over the world.”
Website: www.unisonart.space
Instagram: @unison1089
