Natasha Kravchenko, “Untitled,” 2023
(Chicago, IL – March 2, 2024)
Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, recently selected work by PennWest Photography instructor Natasha Kravchenko for inclusion in its 25th International Open, a group exhibition on display until March 30.
Kravchenko works in collage style – both real and created using Photoshop. Using various symbols such as ropes, mirror fragments, and barbed wires as well as different lights, shadows, and long exposure, enables the creation of an unclear effect of blurring and ambiguity. “These symbolic, dramatic, allegorical matrices give me the opportunity to work with ambivalence and uncertainty,” said Kravchenko.
Interdisciplinary artist Priscilla Otani, Board President of the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art (NCWCA) and founding partner of Arc Studios & Gallery in San Francisco, curated the show. Otani explained the exhibition’s curatorial philosophy “I selected a range of women’s bodies and faces, many gazing directly at the viewer in utter confidence, vulnerability, or resolve. I found myself compiling an exhibition that focused on the power of women.”