City Sketch Collage 17 is a repurposed media collage inspired by the Tappan Zee Bridge from Art by Natalya.

Reclaiming and repurposing materials to use in Natalya's art has been her practice for years. Natalya uses meditative hand stitching and mending of vintage linen, alongside her industrial sewing machine to stitch and collage layers of translucent single-use plastics which would otherwise contribute to litter pollution. The transformation she subjects them to makes these materials unrecognizable. 

Natalya's design inspiration is drawn from the urban environment, buildings of all styles and sizes, new and dilapidated. She thinks of bridges as intricate heavy metal lace, and fire escapes as the iron spines which hold up our aspirations. To Natalya, graffiti is the voice of the city, powerful and opinionated. Even weeds pushing their way through the cracks in the sidewalk add to the beauty and complexity of the urban environment.

The contradiction of Natalya's materials and subject matter - flimsy plastics, vintage linens and manmade symbols of progress and power - useful and damaging - are the underpinnings for the social, environmental and political narrative that defines her work. The climate emergency that the world is facing right now is informing how Natalya lives and practices her art. She uses her artwork to engage and raise awareness about the need to achieve a zero waste society.

Natalya earned her BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  Following careers in the New York City fashion and film industries, she lives and works in Westchester County, NY.