Wherever the Mushrooms Grow: Natalya Brill

June 26th – November 12th, 2018

Natalya Brill, Untitled (detail), 2017, digitally transferred charcoal on paper, 30 x 22 1/2 inches

Union College senior, Natalya Brill presents a harmony of discord in her solo exhibition at the Wikoff Student Gallery. Using incongruous phrases combined with digitally altered drawings, she creates a curious, ambiguous ether for viewers to meander through. Brill encourages viewers to disassemble the pairings, and consider both what they see initially, and what can be extracted by separating the written and visual elements.

At turns playful and serious, hints of existential and personal crises evoke ample mental stimulation, despite the scarceness of imagery and text. Biological themes and vaguely dystopian, environmental scenarios are offered in such enigmatic contexts that Brill’s artworks leave the viewer meditating on these conundrums and peculiar circumstances.

In the words of the artist: “My body of work was created while exploring the union between written words and visual imagery. This idea stemmed from my childhood interest in reading comics and graphic novels because of how the visuals amplified the text. The relationship between visual and oral language is something that we take for granted. When we see messages accompanied by an image, we process both as one and instantly, visually. Only afterward do we, as viewer, attempt to understand and deconstruct what is in front of us. The effect both elements have when deliberately placed together, gives the presentation an entirely alternate meaning.”