Bio
Natalia Mesa was born in Medellín, Colombia, where she lived with her family and completed her primary studies. She then moved to North Carolina, to attend Duke University and completed two degrees; a Neuroscience BS and Philosophy BA. While she was there, Natalia volunteered with the Latin American Student Organization and was an undergraduate assistant at the Imagination and Modal Cognition Lab. After Duke, Natalia moved to London and attended the Royal College of Art for a Graduate Diploma (Fine Art). She is now at Central Saint Martins completing her MA in Art and Science.
Artist Statement
While my Colombian background informs my practice, I work at the intersection of Neuroscience and Philosophy. Fundamentally, my work responds to the Hard Problem of Consciousness and to Reductionist views. The prevailing themes within my work are memory, forgetting, nostalgia, trauma, collective memory and healing.
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Painting, engraving, drawing and stitching make up my visual language, along with transparencies, layers, dripping and medical references. I aim to emphasize the dual nature of our existence while communicating the science and history that inspire me.