Natalya Mougenot

"I am what I am" (contemporary figurative oil painting of a woman on canvas)

2024

Natalya is a contemporary artist from Lyon, France. She was born and grew up in Kazakhstan, the country known for its spacious steppes and low mountains. She arrived in France 2003. Since that moment she loves her adoptive country. She started painting in 2017 and used it as a therapeutic and emotional release during times of crisis when she was struggling with radical life changes. She incorporates this therapeutic approach in her artistic creative process till now. Several years ago painting became more than a hobby. It became a way of expressing her emotions and visions, a successive reaction to events of either personal or general concern. Her artist statement: “ I paint as it’s a necessity for my soul to express itself. Being creative for me is overcoming the restrictions. My art is a piece of my soul. I hope my art inspires reflection, provides a release and forms connection at other people’s souls”. She has developed her own vision of art through practicing a lot. She makes use of varying degrees of figuration, abstraction and impressionism by adding a contemporary twist. Abstract art for her is an interesting challenge for understanding inner feelings, a self-expression based on an intuitive approach. In figurative art her main subject remains women. Her artworks representing women contain the raw emotions of women. She also communicates the importance and the power of strong female relationships: “Women are enriched when they bond with each other”. She works in series: among them are "Heart-mind connection" of abstract artworks, "Women", "Bond", "Florals", "Springtime"... She uses various mediums ( acrylic, oil, watercolor, oil pastels) to create her unique artworks either on canvas or on paper. But she mainly uses acrylic as she works very quickly and expressively by finishing her artwork in one sitting. If Natalya had to pick one quote about her art, she would say : " Art is the reflection of the soul". Natalya goes with her gut and intuition to choose the colors, the lines, the shapes and the texture. She hopes her artworks will give a home a unique personality by filling it with life and color. Her sources of inspirations are Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse, George-Daniel de Monfreid, Paul Gauguin. She also admires the artworks of Joan Mitchell and Banksy.