Past Exhibition

In The Flesh. Natasha Matila-Smith

Wenerei 25 Oketopa -
Hātarei 18 Noema

Wednesday 25 October -
Saturday 18 November

2017

The black heart of In The Flesh hangs ominously.

Matila-Smith, In The Flesh, 2017. 

In The Flesh by Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist and writer, Natasha Matila-Smith, examines societies understanding and expectations of intimacy, lust and romance, and societies assertion of these expectations onto the self.

There is an obsessive quality within the works of Matila-Smith, obsessive of a character that is unknown to everyone, including, as it seems from the viewer’s perspective, the artist. The identity of the character is not important either, instead, the feeling of longing to belong.

In The Flesh saw new work by Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist and writer, Natasha Matila-Smith in Blue Oyster's second space.

There is an obsessive quality within the works of Matila-Smith, obsessive of a character that is unknown to everyone, including, as it seems from the viewer’s perspective, the artist. The identity of the character is not important either, instead, the feeling of longing to belong.

In The Flesh examines societies understanding and expectations of intimacy, lust and romance, and societies assertion of these expectations onto the self.

Natasha Matila-Smith

Natasha Matila-Smith (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Hine) is an artist and writer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She graduated from the University of Auckland with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2014. Natasha's practice interrogates ideas of singularity and rejects fixed identities. She often approaches heavy themes with satire, with her recent works dealing with social anxieties through combining contemporary culture with the digital landscape. Recent exhibitions include The Cold Islanders, Waikato Museum, 2017 andyou’re my number 1, Firstdraft, Sydney, 2017. As a writer, she has contributed to numerous online and print publications which include Runway Australian Experimental Art, Matters Aotearoa and Art New Zealand.