Natalie Krim x French Fries

Interview by Julia Elena Catacutan

Natalie Krim is an Ojai-based artist whose works explore the female body, pleasure, and contemporary political issues. At once playful and complex, she invites the viewer into her garden of earthly delights, opening up a dialogue between her experiences and those of other women.

How has your work developed as you have matured?

When I look back on my first drawings they look so innocent and playful, the colors were brighter, and I was more cheeky with the subject matter. There was a confidence there that comes when you feel no one is watching. For a moment, I lost that confidence, and I didn’t want to create. I felt a disconnect, like I let too many people “touch” my work or get into my head. I’ve recently gained that confidence back, and it feels like coming home. Just as I’ve grown and developed, so has my work. I have different life experiences, greater love, more grief, bigger laughs, a deeper acceptance of myself, and a better understanding of what and why I am creating.

How has your background in lingerie design influenced the garments worn by your subjects?

Having a background in the historical importance of undergarments and lingerie has filled my brain with an encyclopedia of images, shapes, references, and poses that subconsciously influence my work. Although, I’m not actively thinking of lingerie while creating, nor do I intend for that to be the focus of my drawings. I like to think it all goes a bit deeper than lingerie, even though that is where I started.

Are any of the makeup or lingerie looks in your works modeled after your own products or belongings?

There is a natural crossover of my everyday life as I am creating from a personal place, but when I’m drawing my focus is coming from feeling or normalizing an experience or cultural issue, rather than lingerie. As far as makeup goes, that is an afterthought as well. The most notable feature in my drawings that is modeled after me are the mouths. We all have one thing that people seem to notice and, since I was little, I’ve always received attention, good and bad, for my voice and the shape of my mouth. Growing up, I’d watch my mom line her lips every morning, and I’ve always loved lipstick… I can see that transfer to the figures. We know our faces best, and I think [that] if you look at any artist’s work, you can see glimpses of them in the faces they create.

What is your role as an artist?

I think that different artists have different roles to play. Art has the power to shape people’s perceptions, make invisible things visible, be a force for empathy, and humanize experiences that are not well understood. In its creation, it can be a way to process a difficult time and a difficult moment in our society. I personally use my artwork as a way to process. My role is connection.

What inspires your color palette?

I feel colors through touch, and that may be my biggest inspiration. I saw blue with my most recent ex from the last 4 years, so looking back that work is blue-heavy, or it shows up in the titles like “Everything Turns Blue.” I had a Reiki session in Kyoto this summer that was quite powerful and by the end of the session my mind was flooded with the most beautiful shade of pink rushing through my body, it was like I was being impregnated by pink light. Because of this, I’m always looking up the meaning of colors and into color theory. On the other hand, I can be quite basic and go the complete opposite way, like being inspired by sun-drenched newspapers or cardboard boxes, or foundation shades. I’m a California girl and nature and the ocean play a big part, too.

How have the places you’ve lived – Los Angeles, New York, and Ojai – influenced you and your art?

I like to move to places depending on what I need to experience, a place can call to you, and each of these places does. When I was in New York I was around people all the time, there was an energy and a drive that came from being surrounded by a strong creative group, which New York offers. I gained a lot of confidence in my output there, my work was innocent and sweet and sometimes dark–I was younger there, but then there was a moment when I felt a shift in the city and a shift in myself. I made the decision to head back to California, where I’m originally from.

California allowed my work to be viewed in a different way, and I became comfortable working on a large scale. If you think about it, New York is inherently tight for space, whereas LA is so spread out, my drawings reflected the space of the city by becoming larger. I moved back to LA right before my dad passed away and I feel I was brought back home so I could spend that time with him. After my dad’s passing my art changed and I changed. I went on to have a rough three years mentally, spiritually, and physically, and as I emerged as this new, healthier self, Ojai called to me, and this is where I’ve been for four years. My work here may at times reflect the loneliness felt living in a smaller town. The figures are often singular, but they carry that same honesty that is consistent in all my drawings. My work took on new shapes – more surreal at times. I fell in love in Ojai pretty shortly after I moved here and also went through a separation, which is commonly shown in my work no matter the location. Some of my best work I believe is from Ojai.

Your work is both vulnerable and intimate. How does it feel to unveil such private moments to the public?

It feels natural, sometimes even more so than other ways of communicating privately. I value creating space to talk to others about human experiences, subjects that may carry shame, little dark corners brought to light, [and] sharing in a public way opens that space for us to find understanding and comfort. But I’m also quite reserved by nature, so there is still so much I keep private and give room for interpretation.

How has social media affected your career? Is it necessary for artists to have social media?

I started my first drawings on Instagram, so for me, it greatly affected my career. You can look back and see the first drawing I ever posted. I love that part about social media, It’s such a little time capsule. Anyway, that one drawing got the attention of someone I had looked up to as a child and I quit my lingerie job to focus on art. I’ve met incredible talents and supporters on social media, there is an ocean of inspiration swimming through these apps. However, I don’t believe anything is “necessary” for an artist, but it helps tremendously depending on what your goals are. The dark side of social media that is quite damaging for creatives, is the comparison or regurgitation of ideas. You can definitely start to spiral scroll for too long.

When you aren’t busy in the studio, what do you read, watch, and listen to?

I’m very much in my country girl era. I can’t stop listening to Zach Bryan, I’ve listened to his new album all day today. That shifts daily though… tomorrow I’ll be on a completely different wavelength. Most of the time I have a podcast on, I like On Being and just finished The Outlaw Ocean, which I loved. I read a lot of science news, and I’m in the middle of reading Formidable by Elizabeth Griffin.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

I want all my ancestors to come to dinner! I’m in a family tree deep dive right now going back to the early 1800’s. I want to meet my bloodline, look into their eyes, hear all the stories, ask all the questions. Sometimes when I have doubts or get hard on myself, I think about how I come from risk-takers and creatives and survivors, and I’m like ok I can do this. I’d want each one to bring their favorite dish and show my great-grandfather I have his mixing bowls.

In 2022, your work was shown in Sotheby’s group exhibition, A Woman’s Right to Pleasure. How did it feel to be featured alongside trailblazing artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Louise Bourgeois, and Nan Goldin?

I remember when the book for A Woman’s Right to Pleasure arrived in the mail. I had sent it to my mom’s house, and she brought the box out to my car. We opened it together, and both started crying. Growing up, we had a Georgia O’Keeffe print framed right when you opened our front door, so it is most likely the first art imprint I ever had. I sacrificed a lot for these drawings, especially early on: financial stability, relationships, and judgments. This show was one of those moments that came along and confirmed that I am following the right path, and that my instincts are pure. I never really had doubts about living life authentically, but these confirming moments can help validate our choices.

Sex. Pleasure. Love. What advice would you give your younger self?

I would say that you are worth being loved… by yourself and by others. I never got into drugs or drinking, but I used each of these acts to alleviate and numb pain for a long time. A temporary fix of feeling cared for. Even when I thought I had figured it all out and thought I entered safe relationships and spaces that nurtured that care, I learned I hadn’t. I’d tell my younger self, and I remind myself now, the importance of making thoughtful choices – who you spend your time with, who you share your body with, and who you share your love with. Make choices that support healthy emotional and physical exchanges. This summer I had a moment where I was praying about love, I won’t go into detail about the depths of that prayer, but immediately, almost as soon as I asked, was given the answer that I AM love, that I have so much love in me, it lives in us, it’s infinite. I’ve been in long-term relationships for my whole adult life, I’d tell my younger self to chill on that. I’m harnessing that love for me right now and want to be more of a service to the community.