NATASHA VINCENT nee MEJAČ

Accomplished artist Natasha Vincent is a co-creator of the direction of contemporary art. Her graphic approach to her selected subject leads to global subjects intertwined with slices of real life. Minimal images and carefully formed mathematical dissections create boundaries between different planes. The artist is dedicated to the creation of different structures, which through combining planes and colours, present the constructions of life.

Alenka Černelič Krošelj, Lecturer of Art History, Ethnologist and Cultural Anthropologist

Education:    1968    Certificate of Art, Gordon Institute of Technology
1974    Diploma of Teaching, Mercer House
1990    Bachelor of Education – Fine Art, Melbourne University
Employment:
1995-2008    Program co-ordinator Diploma of Arts (Visual Arts) R.M.I.T University
1985-1994     Senior Teacher, Art & Design Department, RMIT
1977-1987    Teacher Slovenian – School of Modern Languages, managed by Victorian Education Department.
1970-1975    Head of Art Department – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Girls College
Professional Development:
2003    TAFE Teachers Development Fund/ Studio Practice –
work of  Anton Plemelj –  Bee hive painting in traditional manner.
2000    Drawing –The extended field Symposium at VCA
1998    Photographic Transfer Systems Workshop
1997    Monoprint Techniques Workshop, Melbourne University
1995    Drawing course with Godwin Bradbeer
Seminar – Vincent Van Gogh and his contemporaries,
National Gallery of Victoria
1990    Women in Art, has anything changed since 70s, seminar, N.G.V
1984-2006   Regular life drawing classes with a group of practising artists
1989    Four months study tour of major European galleries
1986     Conservation of Works on Paper Seminar – Conservation Department, Melbourne University
1985    Seminar in Florence, Italian Renaissance as seen from the Florentine  perspective.
Exhibitions:
2007     Travel to Mars Project Space R.M.I.T
2006    Space and Art School of Art Gallery R.M.I.T
2004     Project Space Printmaking exhibition
1997     School of Art Staff   Exhibition
1994    Steps Gallery, Staff/Student Exhibition
1993    Steps Gallery, Staff/Student Exhibition
1990    Porcelain Ware, Group Work, Gryphon Gallery, Melbourne University
1984    Works on Paper, Group Exhibition, Slovenian Artists Society
Works on Paper Exhibition at  Melba  Artists Society
Group Exhibition of Slovenian Artists Association of Victoria
Group Exhibition at Quantum Art Gallery

“I am represented in private collections in Melbourne, Adelaide, Slovenia, Vienna, Holland and Chile.
My work can also be seen in professional suites including Peter Kovač and Associates and Cunningham and Cummings Designers.
I have also helped with the creation of exhibition graphics for an educational project in Tian Jin, China, while working with Cunningham and Cummings Designers.
Working in the creative field has been part of what I have always wanted to do. When I began teaching after I completed my studies, I realised that imparting knowledge to others actually clarified my own research and was possibly more satisfying than only working individually on my personal portfolio. It always amazed me how creative young people could be and how beneficial it was to their development. It was an area that they could feel successful even if they were not very academic. This feeling then often led to more success in their other areas of study.
My approach to teaching changed greatly once I started working at the university as the students there were all mature age from 20 – even in their 60s. It was far more a process of collaboration. To teach well I had to really keep up with my own artistic practice and also my knowledge of the ongoing art industry. This need to update and research the course had a profound influence on my work.
I feel that my Slovenian background also has been a great influence on the work I am interested in, although this seems to be more obvious as I get older. I have started a project in which I am using a lot of traditional Slovenian imagery which is connected to the bee hive paintings which are so much of our Slovenian heritage. Although at the time of printing, the project was not yet complete.
I have worked in many media. I began in porcelain and printmaking but am now working in mixed media on paper. Much of my artwork is produced in artists’ books as I find these very intimate and the viewer must get close to the pieces produced. This is necessary as my surfaces are very subtle and cannot be seen well from afar. It also tells a story: one piece leading to the next. The bigger pieces are, in fact, made up of many smaller pieces but must be seen together to make sense.”

 

 

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