Natasha Kodela was born in 1970 in Nis in Serbia. She graduated from the Academy of fine Arts in Belgrade 1995 where she still lives and works. The art of Natasa Kodela comes from the imaginary world of this young artist, who does not find her themes in her environment, but in her rich fantasy. The presence of surreal and mystical elements is a common trait of almost all of her works. With daring combinations of unexpected elements, she creates a special atmosphere of secrecy and poetics.
A female figure accompanied by a hound or a cat is frequently the subject of her interest. That person has a completely individualized modern girl character, but it is set in a different time, in some medieval surrounding combined with classic sculptures, columns and strange gates. A chessboard, which for its rhythmically arranged squares is a highly decorative element, is often repeated and used as a floor or ground on which the figures are placed.
Natasa’s paintings of ballerinas are somewhat less enigmatic and they are balancing on a line between the real and imaginary world. The ballerinas are shown practicing close to a bright source of light, like a window, which provides a gradation of light and darkness. What should be noted is the precision with which the details are painted and a strong artistic skill that characterizes Natasa’s entire opus – the aspiration towards perfection, ideal shapes, and harmonic composition.
Natasa, like many other painters, has dedicated a part of her art to the subject of horses and horse races. The elegance and natural balance of these noble animals are faithfully depicted in many of her paintings. It is hard to look away from those perfectly painted heads of horses with all the muscles, rich manes and vivid eyes.
When it comes to colors, her paintings are very balanced, with no strong contrast of tones. She usually uses bright, pastel colors for her ballerinas and warm brown tones for paintings of horses. Since she wants every detail in her painting to be accurate and precise, she first does a drawing before applying the paint, and she uses it as a base for the painting. She paints in thin layers of color, which layer after layer finally define the desired form.
The beauty of the lyrical elements and fantasy in the paintings of Natasa Kodela are admired throughout the world and this is the reason that these paintings can be found in the collections and homes of many appreciators of fine art.
