Natalia Zourabova Living in Painting
Be it in Moscow, Berlin, Be'er Sheva, or Jaffa, Natalia Zourabova primarily paints the interior of her home. The gaze at the living environment is a means of adapting to it, and Zourabova discovers the place through painting; more accurately: by rendering the domestic interior, she discovers painting.
Zourabova excels at constructing complex large-scale compositions—perhaps the greatest challenge in painting. In the history of art, such dimensions are mostly reserved for historical paintings. Her works may be deemed historical paintings about unimportant stories, set against the backdrop of domestic spaces occupied by chairs, carpets, and flowerpots. The spaces she portrays bear traces of small occurrences and memories: a coat left by someone on the chair, laundry waiting to be folded, or a picture painted years ago, hanging on the wall. Zourabova's subject is the chance occurrences of life in the domestic space that converge into potential compositions.
Interior depictions tie the home to the studio, life to work. The painting is created in a familiar, loved place, but at the same time it pits the challenges of life against those of painting. Every moment spent at home is a time of studying the act of painting while mapping the space, perusing the shapes, colors, and textures that make up her habitat. One can imagine Zourabova reclining on the living room sofa in the evening, placing familiar objects in imaginary compositions, and visualizing how the space becomes a painting. Painting is Natalia Zourabova's home.
Natalia Zourabova
1975, Moscow; lives in Jaffa
All works: oil on canvas, courtesy of the artist
