Natalia Grezina

textiel , Soft sculptures , sculptuur , Objecten , installatie , Geschiedenis , Experimenteel , Ecologie , Autobiografisch

In my art practice, I reflect on how the challenges of the outside world shape the human inner landscape. Focusing on psychological and transitional spaces, indirect communication, and postmemory, I create textile-based sculptures and installations that use metaphor to articulate states of intimacy and vulnerability. I am drawn to the ghost side of history – those unseen or suppressed presences, myths, and figures that continue to influence society from the margins.

​Silence is a central focus of my current research. I approach it not merely as an absence, but as a tool of communication under conditions of censorship and self-censorship. This exploration of boundary states is deeply connected to my experience as a Crimean and a migrant, caught in the friction between conflicting political and cultural forces.

​In parallel, I reflect on the trauma of witnessing war in Ukraine from a distance – an experience mediated by continuous exposure to violence through social media. To render this ongoing psychological tension tangible, I turn to archetypal symbols and the tactile quality of handwork, using labor-intensive processes to document reality through emotion and offer a therapeutic counter-space.

​While I work across multiple media, including digital video and sound, embroidery remains central to my practice. Inherited from my grandmother, this slow, repetitive skill embeds thought and emotion into every stitch, creating a personal mythology. By combining natural and synthetic materials, I reflect on complex environments where nature resists industrial influence, crafting magical realism spaces between the remembered and the silenced.

The Alcove project: Bell
The Alcove project: Bell - The Alcove Project: Bell is a site-specific, participatory project developed as a living archive of stories, emotions, and memories materialized through manual techniques. Established within the TENT special program (March 2025 – June 2026), the project facilitated 17 sessions with 77 participants in Rotterdam, becoming an intimate monument to this community. The centerpiece of the project is the artwork “Bell”, part of my series “Spring”, which addresses the trauma of witnessing the ongoing war in Ukraine. The artwork asks: what kind of future will grow from today’s ashes and ruins? What are we grateful for, and what do we hope for, so that despite a traumatic past, the world around us becomes kinder? In search of an answer, I turned to the tradition of votive offerings – objects created as expressions of gratitude or prayer. In this project, these pieces act as “time capsules.” Through symbolism and materiality, they make personal experiences visible and reflective.The process began with collective writing sessions where participants shared stories, memories, dreams, or hopes – either anonymously or openly. Using hand-crafted cards featuring various materials, symbols, and colors, they visualized the potential form of their narrative. In my studio, I reflected on these texts and translated them into physical objects. My practice merges traditional craft with experimental methods and both natural and synthetic materials, giving each narrative a tangible form. Each new object added to the Alcove transformed the space, keeping the archive dynamic and interconnected. A key element of the project is its ephemerality: upon completion, all objects were gifted back to the participants. The archive thus transitioned from a physical installation into a decentralized network of personal connections and digital documentation.
White Flag
White Flag - from the series "Spring" 2023, 2026 PVC film, cotton and woolen threads, glass beads, pearls, natural stones, cotton fabric, watercolor 315 x 130 х 3 cm
Someone Is Howling Outside My Window
Someone Is Howling Outside My Window - Mixed media, 2025, 153 x 55 x 30 cm
Braids
Braids - PLA plastic, woolen and cotton threads, glass and plastic beads, pearls, wire, velvet fabric, 2025, 250 x 60 x 80 cm, photo by Vira Kuda
Castle
Castle - PLA plastic, polyester, dress, wire, glass beads, nylon and cotton threads, PVC film, photo collage, natural stones, 2024, 145 x 60 x 3 cm
Undergrowth - Velvet fabric, PVC film, glass and plastic beads, cotton and nylon threads, wire, wooden branches, wool, silver ring, 2024, 142 x 70 х 9 cm
Mirror - Cotton threads, glass beads, wire, fabric, PLA plastic, natural stones, soil, wooden box, 2023, 40 x 35 x 25 cm
Disquiet Waves - Audio-reactive digital video is made in collaboration with Anton Yermolov, 2023
Bell - PVC film, cotton threads, glass beads, PLA plastic, wire, natural stones, 2023, 26 x 13,5 x 13,5 cm
Two Stories
Two Stories - PVC film, vintage dress, glass beads, cotton threads, PLA plastic, steel, 2022, 135 x 55 x 17 cm
Bonfire - PVC film, glass beads, natural stones, cotton threads, wire, PLA plastic, wool, wooden branches, 2022, 120 х 36 х 3 cm
Anxious Heart - PVC film, glass beads, cotton threads, velvet, cotton wool, 2022, 40 x 18 x 15 cm
Volcano - PVC film, pearls, seashells, rhinestones, glass beads, cotton threads, velvet, cotton wool, wire, 2021
The River With Thin Skin - PVC film, cotton and woolen threads, glass beads, cotton wool, wire, 2020, 750 x 25 x 7 cm

Het Wilde Weten project space

Datum:
Locatie: Het Wilde Weten
In samenwerking met: Het Wilde Weten

The residency period for the development of the artistic research "The Portrait of a Silent Eater".

https://www.hetwildeweten.nl/

You Promised Me Poems

Datum:
Locatie: De Achtertuin
In samenwerking met: NEON Foundation, De Achtertuin

In times when it feels like life often moves at the pace of spectacle, You Promised Me Poems offers a different rhythm. It calls for patience and attentiveness, encouraging a way of seeing that values subtlety over proclamation. Some works speak loudly, while others talk gently. This exhibition is dedicated to the power of the quiet ones.

https://www.neonfoundation.net/copy-of-you-promised-me-poems-1

The Memory

Datum:
Locatie: LocHal
In samenwerking met: Studio Herinner, Brabant Herinnert

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, we are giving shape to memories of freedom and unfreedom. The Memory showcases the results of the encounters and experiences we've had with Studio Herinnering over the past year. We gathered stories, created a podcast, and offered workshops in which four artists collaborated with young people to create new work. We are also showcasing existing and previously unseen work by artists who contributed to the podcast.

https://brabantherinnert.nl/studio-herinner/

The Alcove Project: Bell

Datum:
Locatie: Tent
In samenwerking met: Tent

The Alcove Project: Bell is a site-specific, participatory project developed as a living archive of stories, emotions, and memories materialized through manual techniques. Established within the TENT special program (March 2025 – June 2026), the project facilitated 17 sessions with 77 participants in Rotterdam, becoming an intimate monument to this community. The project is curated by Anke Bangma.

https://tentrotterdam.nl/project/alcove-project-natalia-grezina-bell/

Interwoven

Datum:
Locatie: Vrij Paleis

"Interwoven" is a group exhibition that explores the connections between the Dutch and Ukrainians, many of whom have found refuge in the Netherlands. The exhibition showcases the work of 16 contemporary artists from both countries, highlighting their diverse individual and collective practices, which are united by common threads.

https://www.380art.com/

Shimmering Land

Datum:
Locatie: Chrysalid Gallery
In samenwerking met: Anton Yermolov

The Shimmering Land is a duo exhibition that features the artworks of Crimean artists Natalia Grezina and Anton Yermolov, who have been working alongside curator Marth von Loeben on a project about lost heritage.

https://www.grezina.art/shimmeringland

Galatea Kunstprijs

Datum:
Locatie: Dordrechts Museum
In samenwerking met: Galatea Foundation

The exhibition and incentive prize is aimed at refugees with a residence permit living in the Netherlands. In the last months of 2022, an Open Call was placed inviting artists with a recent migration history to apply. A jury selected eight talented candidates out of all the applications. They have a chance of winning a prize and having their work shown in a joint exhibition.

https://www.dordrechtsmuseum.nl/nu-te-zien-en-te-doen/de-galateaprijs/

Counterbodies

Datum:
Locatie: De Achtertuin

“Counterbodies” will be one of a kind pop-up exhibition to showcase works of 12 international female artists from the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Crimea that share a common interest over the theme of the body. The show will feature both established artists and new voices in the contemporary art world, to offer the public both quality and freshness.

https://www.chrysalid.art/counterbodies-third-edition

Big Art

Datum:
Locatie: Bajeskwartier
In samenwerking met: Chrysalid Gallery

A pop-up platform for XL artworks and huge design objects, brought to you by a blend of established artists and designers as well as upcoming talents. Every year BIG ART occupies a special building in or around Amsterdam where dozens of galleries, artists and designers fill the place with a unique mix of monumental paintings and drawings, large sculptures and photographs, mesmerizing lightart and impressive interactive installations.

https://bigart.nu/

Sunken Garden

Datum:
Locatie: Chrysalid Gallery

The heavy influence of humanity over their natural environment and living condition is undeniable, to the point that the changes in the landscape are visible, tangible and directly reflect on the health of their bodies. The technological hubris that pushes humanity to the limit of their abilities and extremes of their imagination will be absorbed by nature almost effortlessly: the elements will find a way to bring back balance, patiently conquering and reclaiming their rightful domain.

https://www.grezina.art/sunken-garden

The Black Sea Always Turns Red

Datum:
Locatie: Raw streetphoto gallery

In the first chapter of Hundred Year’s War, I chose to explore my own private family history of war and trauma by combining my embroidered sculptures with the tales and witnesses from the visual archive of my grandmother. Each piece has its own story, standing at the border between nightmare and memory, giving an insight to the viewer of the first spark that initiated their creation: the emotional burden handed down on my infant shoulders has shaped the person and the artist I have become.

https://www.grezina.art/the-black-sea-always-turns-red
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