as the veils get thinner
natalia ossef
18 maart 2023 - 15 april 2023
‘As the veils get thinner’ is a new exhibition by visual artist Natalia Ossef. The artist explores how we can experience reality more transparently and lightly by creating connections between the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. Ecofeminism and the notion of the ‘divine feminine’ serve as important sources of inspiration in this process.
“People feed on the energy coming out of stone, the tiny particles of earth,” writes Malidoma P. Somé in the book The Healing Wisdom of Africa. For Ossef, symbolism and spirituality provide points of connection to connect with the energy of natural elements and hidden objects in the earth. For instance, her native soil in Syria harbors a rich history that strongly captures the imagination. Buried in the landscape are treasures of the earth, objects that symbolize femininity, banished from the patriarchal society.
Healing, restoration, and connection are central to Natalia Ossef’s work. By utilizing her body, the relationship with nature emerges in her work in various ways. The leap from her initially two-dimensional work to an intermedial practice encompassing photography and video as well as drawings, sculptures, and installations also signified a repositioning within the themes she addresses. The postcolonial critique of Trinh T. Minh-ha resonates in her work, as do the voices of Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva and their vision of ecofeminism, through which they argue that life in nature is sustained by cooperation, shared care, and love. With the ‘divine feminine,’ Ossef refers to a spiritual concept that offers an alternative to the pedestal on which men have been placed for centuries in societies and dominant religions.
Natalia Ossef (El Kamechli, 1983) lives and works in Utrecht. Recently, her work was on display at Buitenplaats Doornburgh in Maarssen. In 2021, parallel to her solo exhibition ‘Reflecting Reflections’ at the Centraal Museum, she presented the exhibition ‘Before It Stirs the Surface’ at Movement Exposed Gallery Space in Utrecht. After graduating from the HKU in 2011, Natalia Ossef has exhibited regularly in Utrecht and abroad, including in Amsterdam, Basel, Berlin, New York, and Paris. Her work is included in public collections such as the Centraal Museum, the ING Art Collection (Netherlands), the Eskff Collection (United States), and CCA Andratx (Spain). In 2019, Ossef obtained her Honours Master of Visual Arts from the Sint Lucas School of Arts in Antwerp.
Guest curator Marcelle Schots is active as a dance and performance critic, editor, and artistic researcher in the performing and visual arts. She is the founder of Movement Exposed Gallery Space in Utrecht. Schots studied at the Utrecht University of the Arts and completed a Master’s in Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy at Utrecht University.