Artist Statement
My paintings are rooted in figurative realism with an oscillation between the abject body and the mythological. I am interested in narratives that capture both the beauty and tension of conflicted psychological and corporeal terrain that accompany transitional moments. My work investigates the intermingling between interiority and embodiment; calling attention to that which can often go unacknowledged or concealed within the restrictions, taboos, and expectations of societal roles.
As a first generation American woman born of Ecuadorian and French parents, my often-conflicting sense of cultural identity, ideology, and body has drawn me toward themes of Otherness. Throughout my oeuvre, I have consistently returned to the ‘in-between’: overlaps and contradictions that one may experience in their life.
Most recently, my work explores the themes of Motherhood. Early parenthood is deeply isolating; time loses context and days bleed into one another. Body, routine, and artistic practices all undergo chaotic transformation, thrust into new patterns, rituals, and daily regimens structured around the feeding and sleeping of another being. This dramatic restructuring is not unlike the experience of a pandemic.
Recent watercolor paintings explore the ways that events can embed themselves into our bodies, particularly experiences of prolonged stress. Loss of hair, sleep, autonomy, and the perception of time are contrasted with the gaining of new somatic masses and life created; thus, a new role that will forever change the landscape of your own. Yet, alongside the scrutinizing of bodily changes, there is a deep sense of connection to history, lineage, the earth, and the divine.
Watercolor, with its fluidity and difficulty to control, has been a humbling experience that parallels parenthood. It has become the crux of my practice and has allowed me to work quickly and sporadically. The lexicon of my work depicts everyday objects like eggs, nests, hair, moons, and trees. Forms appear contained, smooth, womb-like, simultaneously corporeal and celestial. They speak the language of rhythm and repetition, and call attention to the orbits and patterns in which we find ourselves, as well as our bodily cycles that connect us to the natural world around us. Mounds of piling laundry and dishes mimic the expanding breasts and belly, serving as a metaphor for the mounting weight of all that must, but cannot possibly, be done.
About
Natalie Baldeón is a Visual Artist, Mother and Educator living in Saint Louis, MO. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from The University of Central Florida in 2008, and her Masters of Fine Arts from Washington University in 2012. She has exhibited her work locally, regionally and nationally. She currently works as an Adjunct Professor at Webster University and St Louis Community College.
My paintings are rooted in figurative realism with an oscillation between the abject body and the mythological. I am interested in narratives that capture both the beauty and tension of conflicted psychological and corporeal terrain that accompany transitional moments. My work investigates the intermingling between interiority and embodiment; calling attention to that which can often go unacknowledged or concealed within the restrictions, taboos, and expectations of societal roles.
As a first generation American woman born of Ecuadorian and French parents, my often-conflicting sense of cultural identity, ideology, and body has drawn me toward themes of Otherness. Throughout my oeuvre, I have consistently returned to the ‘in-between’: overlaps and contradictions that one may experience in their life.
Most recently, my work explores the themes of Motherhood. Early parenthood is deeply isolating; time loses context and days bleed into one another. Body, routine, and artistic practices all undergo chaotic transformation, thrust into new patterns, rituals, and daily regimens structured around the feeding and sleeping of another being. This dramatic restructuring is not unlike the experience of a pandemic.
Recent watercolor paintings explore the ways that events can embed themselves into our bodies, particularly experiences of prolonged stress. Loss of hair, sleep, autonomy, and the perception of time are contrasted with the gaining of new somatic masses and life created; thus, a new role that will forever change the landscape of your own. Yet, alongside the scrutinizing of bodily changes, there is a deep sense of connection to history, lineage, the earth, and the divine.
Watercolor, with its fluidity and difficulty to control, has been a humbling experience that parallels parenthood. It has become the crux of my practice and has allowed me to work quickly and sporadically. The lexicon of my work depicts everyday objects like eggs, nests, hair, moons, and trees. Forms appear contained, smooth, womb-like, simultaneously corporeal and celestial. They speak the language of rhythm and repetition, and call attention to the orbits and patterns in which we find ourselves, as well as our bodily cycles that connect us to the natural world around us. Mounds of piling laundry and dishes mimic the expanding breasts and belly, serving as a metaphor for the mounting weight of all that must, but cannot possibly, be done.
About
Natalie Baldeón is a Visual Artist, Mother and Educator living in Saint Louis, MO. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from The University of Central Florida in 2008, and her Masters of Fine Arts from Washington University in 2012. She has exhibited her work locally, regionally and nationally. She currently works as an Adjunct Professor at Webster University and St Louis Community College.
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