BIO
Natalie Seifert Eliassen (born 1993) is an artist from Oslo, Norway. Natalie graduated from The Art School in Stavanger 2016 and received a BFA from the Academy of Fine Art, Bergen in 2019. In spring 2023, she graduated with an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Arts, Helsinki, in the Time and Space department. After graduation, Natalie moved to Oslo but continues to work and exhibit in Helsinki. Kiasma the Finnish National Museum for Contemporary Art have bought two of her ceramics works for their Lipponen Collection. She has exhibited her work at Female Artistic Experiments Norway at Atelier Nord, Oslo (2019) and in several performance events in Oslo and Bergen.
Natalie works with masks, costumes, performances, ceramics, installations, sound and videos. The artistic work of Natalie was featured in the photo magazine SJÅ issue #2 ROM (2020). Lately, Eliassen has been doing a lot of collaborations, often involving costume design, with artists, filmmakers, contemporary dancers and musicians, to mention a few: artist Agnete Tangrand, her sister and filmmaker Franciska Eliassen, musician Ferdinand Bergstrøm, video artist David Alrek, and contemporary dancer Ine Therese Hogstad. Natalie has received grants from Fritt Ord and FriFond to make an art documentary about Norwegian escorts (2019). She has organized and co-organized several outdoor performances and short film screenings, in parallel with her art practice. Natalie is also a sailing instructor and captain of her own sailboat.
Photo : Petri Summanen, February 2022
Press
In January 2021 Natalie started her MFA studies in The Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki in the department of Time and Space.
Her is a 5 min showreel of six performances or video installations made by Natalie before 2020:
About my art 2020:
Installations, performances and costumes that I make come from human experiences and emotions. My works develop from what affects me right now, psychological and sociological topics I want to research and gain a deeper understanding of. My goal is to make society more open and inclusive. Secrets can be heavy, and the stigma from their revelation may be even heavier. Many of the topics that I’ve worked with are influenced by Tracey Emin’s body of work. Such as breakups, dating, morals, madness and not fitting into society. In addition my art explores folklore, the inner clitoris and sex work.
Sometimes I offer an escape from reality through dreamlike, sparkling, alternative universes. In my witch performance "My nature is too much", the costumes were influenced by how I dressed extravagantly to get as much attention as possible during a manic episode. The choreography was inspired by "trembling therapy" and finding your inner wild monster.
The masks that I create reflect the psychological roles we take on to get through the days, or to hide our secrets. I sew masks with shiny fabrics, pearls and sequins. It is not always false to wear a mask, a mask can protect a person's integrity and self-respect.
Often I work in a journalistic fashion in the initial phase of my projects. That is, I interview different people on a topic, or collect personal stories, in order to find a group's collective awareness. The interviews are edited and used directly in the display of the work. For example, recordings of the interviews can be played as part of an installation. Other times, this material remains as my research.
Currently, I am editing a short film where I interview Norwegian sex-workers in their 20s. Having grown up with some negative attitudes towards sex, I feel an urge to learn about people who have broken out of the sexual norms. I exhibited a video installation with the trailer of this short documentary, which included an iPad with a chat app, so that the audience could privately ask their own questions to the sex-workers from the video. Facilitating interactivity between the audience and the art is something I strive for when I present my work.
Oslo, August 2020
Foto: Tobias Aksdal, November 2020
Foto: Runar Gåsterud, December 2020