ON MY Practice
I rarely go looking for a particular scene. Something stops me, although I do not always know why. The feeling comes before the thought. What attracted me often reveals itself only after I have lived with the photograph for a while. Much of my work is made while I am simply going about my day. I return to the same kinds of places again and again: neighborhoods, parking lots, swimming pools, sidewalks, and walls. I am interested in how little is needed to hold my attention, and how a small shift in light, space, or perspective can change what I see.
Negative space is as important to me as the objects themselves. I still look at certain pictures and wonder how I knew I should stop in that place. Sometimes I sense something before I have words for it. The photographs continue to unfold over time, revealing connections I could not have anticipated when I made them.
Before becoming an artist, psychotherapy was my career. That experience continues to shape how I move through the world. Both practices ask for careful attention, patience, and a willingness to let certain questions remain open.
The photograph gives me a way to stay with that experience. It reminds me that what I see is part of something much larger, and that there is far more out there than I will ever fully know.
biO
Natalie Christensen is an American artist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After a career in psychotherapy, she began making photographs in 2016. Rooted in the photographic image, her practice investigates architecture, perception, and the psychological charge of ordinary places.
Working with suburban environments, pools, walls, shadows, thresholds, and fragments of built space, Christensen uses photography as a way to examine how external structures mirror interior states. In recent years, her work has expanded beyond the framed image into installation, sculptural forms, site-responsive projects, and a long-term collaboration with London based artist Jim Eyre. These projects test how photographs change when they enter physical space - becoming objects, surfaces, interventions, and environments.
Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in public and private collections.
natalie christensen CV
FORTHCOMING
2028 - Solo exhibition, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2026 - Solo exhibition, University of South Dakota Art Galleries, Vermillion, SD
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 - The Deconstructed Self, SUNY Polytechnic University, Gannett Gallery, Utica, NY
2022 - The Deconstructed Self, Sahara West Gallery, Las Vegas, NV
2022 - The Reconstructed/Deconstructed Self, Intersect Arts Center, St. Louis, MO
2021 - The Deconstructed Self, Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, TX
2021 - Limits, Galerie Catherine et André Hug, Paris, France
2021 - Semblances of Thresholds and Boundaries, Nordic Art Agency, in conjunction with Copenhagen Photo Festival, Malmö, Sweden
2019 - The Deconstructed Self, Galerie Minimal, Berlin, Germany
2019 - Last Night I Dreamt I Knew How to Swim, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2018 - Altered Perspective, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
SELECTED TWO-PERSON AND COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS
2025 - Seeing You Seeing, with Jim Eyre, Bittners Design Studio and Courtyard, Louisville, KY
2023 - TOGETHER/APART, with Jim Eyre, Nordic Art Agency, Malmö, Sweden
2022 - SHIFTINGSCAPES, with Jim Eyre, street installation, Soho and Mayfair, London, UK
2022 - TOGETHER/APART, with Jim Eyre, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2019 - alteredstates/alteredscapes, with Jim Eyre, Turner Carroll Gallery and El Rey Court, Santa Fe, NM
2018 - alteredstates/alteredscapes, with Jim Eyre, UNM School of Architecture Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2018 - alteredstates/alteredscapes, with Jim Eyre, Peckham Levels, London, UK
2017 - Light Minded, two-person exhibition, Actors Theatre Gallery, Louisville, KY
SELECTED GROUP, JURIED AND INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2025 - Windows to the Subconscious, Northern Illinois University Art Museum, Dekalb, IL
2025 - National Exhibition, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
2025 - Night Lights Denver, Month of Photography, Denver Festival, Denver, CO
2025 - Woven Art: SciArt From Air to the Cosmos, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
2025 - Cimarron National Works on Paper, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
2025 - Works on Paper, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, NJ; guest curator Samantha Friedman, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Museum of Modern Art
2024 - Tree Stories, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
2024 - A Sense of Place: Identity, Community and Geography on the Colorado Plateau, Clara M. Lovett Art Museum, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
2024 - 10th International Art Resilience Fair, Musée de Peinture de St. Frajou, France
2024 - ArtsThrive Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM; showcase artist
2023 - Seasons Exhibition, The Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, Scotland
2023 - Transcendent, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2023 - Viral Human. Public Art and Metaverse, Venice, Italy
2022 - Stories from My Childhood, Northern Illinois State University, DeKalb, IL
2022 - RESPONSE, Pie Projects, Santa Fe, NM
2022 - Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
2022 - HIGH CONTRAST, Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY; juried by Alexis Lowry, Senior Curator, Dia Art Foundation
2022 - An Invitation, juried group NFT exhibition hosted by Art.3io and New Art City; showcase artist and juror
2021 - Real or Imagined, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA; juried by Clare Bell, Director of Exhibitions, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
2021 - Expressions West 2021, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR
2021 - Art Auction 53, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
2020 - International Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
2020 - In Isolation: You, Me, We, Lucie Foundation and Musée Magazine Exhibition; Top 10 Finalist
2020 - Solstice: Create Art for Earth, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; juried by Judy Chicago
2020 - Art in the West, High Desert Museum, Bend, OR
2020 - Making a Way, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
2020 - Taking Pictures, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR
2020 - Representing the West: A New Frontier, Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, Pueblo, CO
2019 - Escape, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS
2019 - 5th Annual Group Show, David Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY; juried by Paula Tognarelli, Griffin Museum of Photography
2019 - A Year of Making Meaning: New Additions to the Collection, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
2019 - Royal Photographic Society International Exhibition 161, touring the United Kingdom
2019 - Treat America, Foley Gallery, New York, NY
2018 - Contemporary Photography 2008–2018, Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; juried by Kristen Gaylord
2018 - The National: Best of Contemporary Photography 2018, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN; invited photographer
2018 - 33rd Annual International Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX
2018 - alteredstates/alteredscapes, Standard Vision Screen, Los Angeles, CA
2018 - The Deconstructed Self, Griffin Museum of Photography, virtual gallery feature
2018 - Shifting Light: Photographic Perspectives, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM; invited electronic collaboration
2017 - Primary to Tertiary, Site:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
2017 - Work x 5 Invitational Group Show, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2017 - Onomato Kunstverein, Düsseldorf, Germany; People’s Choice winner
2016 - The Salon Show Invitational, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Books and Monographs
2021 - 7 *** NATALIE CHRISTENSEN, Setanta Books and Open Doors Gallery, London
2020 - Minimalism in Photography, teNeues Publishing; cover image and 17 photographs included
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
2024 - Best of Show, Tree Stories, Sasse Museum of Art
2024 - 1 Degree Award, 10th International Art Resilience Fair, Musée de Peinture de St. Frajou
2023 - Aesthetica Art Prize, longlisted
2022 - Juror’s Choice Award, Deep Blue Pool, Stories from my Childhood, Northern Illinois University Art Museum
2022 - First place, Fine Art Category, Minimalist Photo Awards
2020 - Top 10 Finalist, Lucie Foundation, In Isolation: You, Me, We
2019 - Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation
2019 - Finalist, Critical Mass, Photolucida
2018 - Second place, International Juried Exhibition, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art
2018 - 11th Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Honorable Mention
2018 - Finalist, Smithsonian.com 15th Annual Photo Contest, Altered Images category, Go Deeper
2018 - Purchase Award, 33rd Annual International Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, University of Texas at Tyler
2017 - Chromatic Awards, Honorable Mention for Go Deeper and On Shaky Ground
2017 - Finalist, Critical Mass, Photolucida AWARDS/RECOGNITION
Grants, Residencies, Talks and Panels
2026 - Great Meadows Foundation Professional Development Grant
2025 - Artist Talk, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Utica, NY
2022 - Invited Artist and Panelist, COVID and CREATIVITY, De-Generate Program, SITE Santa Fe
2020 - Artist Residency, Château d'Orquevaux, Denis Diderot Grant
2019 - Invited Panelist, Bridging the Gap: Photography and Contemporary Art, Center and Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2019 - Artist Talk, Royal Photographic Society, Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham, UK
2018 - alteredstatesalteredscapes.com launch, Review Santa Fe Photography Festival
2018 - Artist Talk, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
2018 - Featured photograph for CENTER Santa Fe campaign, Gestalt at Monument Valley
COLLECTIONS
Public Collections
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
University of Texas at Tyler, Department of Art and Art History, Tyler, TX; purchase award for Are These Chairs Taken?
New Mexico Arts, Art in Public Places, selected 2019, 2023, 2024
Corporate and Private Collections
JP Morgan, Boston, MA
Wells Fargo Corporate Collection
Private collections worldwide
SELECTED CURATORS AND JURORS
Samantha Friedman, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Museum of Modern Art
Alexis Lowry, Senior Curator, Dia Art Foundation
Clare Bell, Director of Exhibitions, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Judy Chicago
Paula Tognarelli, former Executive Director and Curator, Griffin Museum of Photography
Kristen Gaylord
REPRESENTATION
Galerie Catherine et André Hug, Paris, France - www.galeriehug.com
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM - www.turnercarrollgallery.com
Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach, CA - www.susanspiritusgallery.com