Dubai’s ME Dubai Hotel, designed by the late Zaha Hadid, will host a solo exhibition of works by London-based artist, environmentalist, and philanthropist Natalia Kapchuk from March 04 to May 01, 2023. The exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Art|Kōrero and FprBuro Communication Agency, will showcase over twenty mixed-media creations, as well as digital and AR installations, within the hotel’s newly dedicated gallery space, overlooking the hotel’s central atrium. The solo exhibition highlights the artist’s captivating designs, her use of various materials, exceptional techniques, and an eco-friendly approach, touching on powerful subject matter regarding our precious planet.
The exhibition’s centerpiece comprises over twenty large-scale artworks and installations from The Lost Planet series. Since its inauguration in early 2019, the series has grown to over forty environmentally-centered contemporary works, fanning the artistic mission of Natalia Kapchuk and her portrayal of our current world. Each artwork focuses on the innate beauty of nature, either in its entirety or shrouded in the consequences of climate change and human activity, garnering inspiration from the expanses of the Sahara desert or the mounds of plastic littering the Pacific Ocean, among others.
In creating the physical art pieces, the artist found it essential to implement eco-friendly applications, incorporating elements like reclaimed wood, up-cycled plastics, and plant-based techniques and materials. Such intent reflects the global need for exercising safe alternative approaches to common yet destructive practices to thwart ecological decline. Moreover, to contrast naturally resourced and industrial materials, the artist utilizes mediums such as tree bark, sand, stones, and fermented moss with polymers, resi-crete, gilding, metal chips, and more. Pushing her artistic approach further, the artist works with fiberglass construction, LED lighting, and digital and augmented designs, continually developing her signature style.
One of the featured artworks, Ocean’s DNA (2019), constructed using a unique layering technique that combines planet-based resins with various natural materials such as fermented moss and repurposed sand from the coastline of the Maldives, will be on display. Another artwork, Fragment N°98203 (2020), dedicated to the plague of plastic pollution, is based on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and is a collection of marine debris the artist harvested from the ocean, overtaking the artwork and obscuring the beauty that lies beneath it.
The message of environmental awareness and sustainability is needed now more than ever, as the current climate crisis ravages on. For Natalia Kapchuk, this sentiment takes center stage as her passion for creating captivating works of art lies beyond a mere means of expression but as an opportunity to make a difference. Her environmentally centered mixed-media artworks exemplify the unbridled beauty of our planet juxtaposed with the destructive forces of human activity and its impacts on our majestic lands and oceans.
Before creating her works, Kapchuk underwent extensive research on various topics related to global warming, ocean plastic and pollution, and other destructive impacts. Absorbing such information, the artist urges humanity to shift attention toward environmental protections and the conservation of natural resources and less on greed and consumption.
The Lost Planet series has traveled to various locations like the renowned Château de Crémat in Nice, France, and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art in South Korea, spreading its message of environmental awareness, protection, and appreciation for public resonance. The series will return to the UAE for a solo exhibition at the ME Dubai Hotel, which was recently named the Most Sustainable Hotel Company in the world by the SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment. The coveted title is for the company’s dedication to fostering change and implementing initiatives that positively impact local communities, society, and the environment.
Natalia Kapchuk is an environmentally focused contemporary artist dually based in London, UK, and Dubai, UAE. She composes her works using a combination of different media or materials, highlighting key ecological issues, and the global effects caused by human pollution; emphasizing the importance of environmental protection. Kapchuk’s main point of focus is all life on this planet, the biodiversity it holds, various ecosystems, and the vast expanses of our beloved Oceans. In a constant search for new means of expression, the artist experiments with a variety of unique mediums such as resi-crete, reclaimed woods and plastic, metallic grit, natural stones and crystals, diamond dust, gold leaf, etc. Kapchuk has a Bachelor’s degree from Ural State University, Russia in International Relations. She studied art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2017 followed by The Chelsea College of Arts in London, UK. Natalia Kapchuk is an ambassador at The Parliamentary Society of Arts, Fashion, and Sports (UK), as well as, an ambassador for the Better World Fund (BWF).
Her works have been included in many group exhibitions like Anima Mundi International Art Festival, Venice (2019); London Contemporary, The Line Gallery, London (2019); Submergence, Jack Straw Cultural Center, Seattle (2021); and such digital projects as Emerging Scene Art Prize, Dubai and Abu Dhabi (2021); the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (2022); Château de Crémat, Nice (2022).
Information provided by FprBuro Communication Agency.