Natalia Papeta was born in the Soviet Union. Drawing was a childhood fascination that brought Natalia to Rustavi Art School (Georgia), from which she graduated with honors. However, after the graduation her interest in science led Natalia to Lomonosov Moscow State University where she earned a M.S. degree in Molecular Biology, followed by a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry. For many years art and science have co-existed and competed, and painting has been an essential part of Natalia’s life. Painting has been a way to balance rational exploration of the world by technical approach of science (her research at Harvard and Columbia) with spiritual/emotional groping of its mysterious complexity and human nature. Currently she lived and works in New York. Natalia Papeta’s painting style fuses expressionism and surrealism, but she calls her paintings “Thoughts and feelings in paint”. In a way it is a three-dimensional poetry, where space is created by the two dimensions of the painting and the third dimension of the title. While Natalia’s paintings convey an inner world, invisible otherwise to others, her photographs spotlight the beauty and complexity of reality, revealed for a brief moment and poised to be captured and saved for eternity. Natalia Papeta’s works mediate feelings or sensations that she would like the viewer to “try on”, or thoughts she invites the viewer to explore. |