Biography
Visual and performance artist working in the field of contemporary photography, video, installation and collage. Natalia Mali born (1971) is a non-British born artist living and working in London. She graduated from Yale School of Art and Architecture, USA (1999), majoring in film and photography under the leadership of Gregory Crewdson.
Eight years later, she completed her M.A. in Performance Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London (2007), submitting her thesis on Performance and Culture. Mali has been producing cross-disciplinary projects combining photography, video, performance-based installation art and more recently, collage/photo montage. Her predominantly research-based practice is focussed on historical narratives and representation. Rooted in post-feminist discourse, Mali’s work addresses the construction of identity and explores the clash of values between the Islamic conservative traditionalism of her native land (Dagestan) and Western pluralism, advocating women’s rights, emancipation and empowerment. Having dubbed herself a postcolonial hybrid, Mali probes into cultural definitions of freedom and self-expression and examines contemporary collective identity.
Mali’s oeuvre builds on found objects and materials, such as archival photographs, traditional patterns, designs and ethnic traditional dress, jewellery and weaponry. This is what forms her visual repertoire, replete with collective memories, cultural artefacts, historical upheavals and social contradictions.
Lives and works in London.
