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Natasha Norman
Recent Monotypes, 2021I see my artistic practice as one that nourishes an empathy for the beautiful balance of ecology – a precariously fragile and yet resilient system.
This series of woodblock prints was focused on paired down elements and metaphorical forms. I was greatly inspired by the Kachō-ga tradition of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints which privileges the compositional power of blank spaces and a pairing of two elements – one fauna species with one flora species. Originally derived from the traditional Chinese genre of bird, fish, insect and flower painting, Kachō-ga has evolved in a Japanese tradition into a depiction of a single bird with a single plant. The underlying principle of the Kachō-e print tradition is to evoke the harmony of nature in the simplicity of pairings.
Both prints began as a series of expressive marks on the woodblock that were then carved and worked into a composition. Alates in Nuptial Flight evoked the experience of winged ants before an autumnal moon while Sanderling Shadows emerged from a memory of reflections in a pool of water that became evocative of a tidal shore. The expressive cut marks in the prints elicit the traces of insect and bird after they have disappeared. I see my artistic practice as one that nourishes an empathy for the beautiful balance of ecology – a precariously fragile and yet resilient system. I hope that these images are able to evoke the poetry of natural moments in a way that can linger in the viewer’s consciousness.
Natasha Norman was born in the seaside desert town of Oranjemund in Namibia in 1982. She moved to Cape Town in South Africa early on in her childhood and has always lived by the ocean, developing a love for its moods, energy and ecology from her father. She completed her Honours (2005) and Masters (2011) degree in Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. She currently works as a part-time lecturer, arts writer and practicing artist, having lectured at various institutions and universities in South Africa and published as an independent writer in various journals and South African magazines. Throughout Natasha’s art training and career she has consistently been inspired by the medium and technical challenges of print. She trained in traditional Western print methods at the University of Cape Town and subsequently attended residencies in Japan to study the Japanese relief print method called Mokuhanga. Her current work is very inspired by this watercolour print process which has lead to an extended investigation of the watercolour medium in her practice. Natasha’s studio is based in an old bank building by the beach in Muizenberg so that she can skip out for time in the sea when the swell and the winds permit it.
Both prints began as a series of expressive marks on the woodblock that were then carved and worked into a composition. Alates in Nuptial Flight evoked the experience of winged ants before an autumnal moon while Sanderling Shadows emerged from a memory of reflections in a pool of water that became evocative of a tidal shore. The expressive cut marks in the prints elicit the traces of insect and bird after they have disappeared. I see my artistic practice as one that nourishes an empathy for the beautiful balance of ecology – a precariously fragile and yet resilient system. I hope that these images are able to evoke the poetry of natural moments in a way that can linger in the viewer’s consciousness.
Natasha Norman was born in the seaside desert town of Oranjemund in Namibia in 1982. She moved to Cape Town in South Africa early on in her childhood and has always lived by the ocean, developing a love for its moods, energy and ecology from her father. She completed her Honours (2005) and Masters (2011) degree in Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. She currently works as a part-time lecturer, arts writer and practicing artist, having lectured at various institutions and universities in South Africa and published as an independent writer in various journals and South African magazines. Throughout Natasha’s art training and career she has consistently been inspired by the medium and technical challenges of print. She trained in traditional Western print methods at the University of Cape Town and subsequently attended residencies in Japan to study the Japanese relief print method called Mokuhanga. Her current work is very inspired by this watercolour print process which has lead to an extended investigation of the watercolour medium in her practice. Natasha’s studio is based in an old bank building by the beach in Muizenberg so that she can skip out for time in the sea when the swell and the winds permit it.
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