BIOGRAPHY.
Natasha Karpinskaia was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, in a family of theater artists and fashion designers. She later settled in the United States, pursuing a Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University and teaching at the New York Academy of Art before transitioning to a full-time studio practice.
Her work spans painting, printmaking, collage, and mixed media, and is characterized by abstract forms, a refined color palette, and a process-driven approach. Her background in linguistics, multilingualism, and art history informs her understanding of art as a visual language. Karpinskaia has exhibited in the United States and internationally, and her work is held in private and corporate collections. She currently teaches at the Silvermine Guild Art Center in Connecticut, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, and at other art centers.
STATEMENT
I work in various formats, making large oil or acrylic paintings, or more intimate smaller works on paper, including collage and printmaking. Sometimes I start with a particular idea, a concept, an object in front of me but more often I just use color and form to evoke various places, moods, or dreams. My process is spontaneous, but my choices of color, form and material set the conditions for later revisions. This leads to layering, scraping, overpainting, as the work develops but I often leave my changes visible, so the surface retains its history.
My practice comes from the need to externalize accumulated experiences of various places, people, ideas, emotions. Narratives evolve in the actual process of creating work, through sustained engagement with it, suddenly appearing or disappearing, and transforming the meaning overtime. I often work in series, so that ideas could be approached from various angles, allowing the relationship between images to develop overtime and to gradually accumulate the meaning.
RESUME.
Selected Solo Shows
2026 Solo Show, Center for Contemporary Printmaking
2023 Yellow Rain, Diana Collabella Fine Arts, Ridgefield, CT
2019 Carousel, Susan Calloway Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2017 Pictures at an Exhibition, Gallery on the Green, Norwalk, CT
2016 Sequent Narratives, Susan Calloway Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2015 Unearthed, Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan, CT
2013 Le Texte, Galerie Patrick et Sophie Saurat, Paris, France
2012 Variations on a Grid, Susan Calloway Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2010 Leitmotifs, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
2010 Mix, Susan Calloway Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2010 The Doodle Show, Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan, CT
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Absence. ARTworks, Norwalk, CT
2025 Color me. Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan.
2024 Every Picture Tells a Story, Silvermine Art Center, New Canaan, CT
2023. With Fresh Eyes, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
2015 Resilience, Beechwood Arts, Westport, CT
2015 Traces, Trailer Box Gallery, Danbury, CT
2013 The Art of Mark Making (with Ashley Andrews), Silvermine Guild Art Center
2013 Refresh III, Longview Gallery, Washington, DC
2013 Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY
2013 Waterworks, American University, Washington, DC
2013 Refresh III, Longview Gallery, Washington, DC
Selected Publications and Reviews
Pictures at an Exhibition 2017, Norwalk Hour, October 2017
Academy 2011, Washington Post, July 22, 2011
Steppin’ Out, by Harriet Hiller, The Hour, February 2008
Russian Curator Focuses on Painting, by Fran Sikorski, CT Acorn Papers
From Russia with Love, Wilton Villager, April 2006
Karpinskaia to Be “Layered and Stacked” at Ridgefield Guild Show, The Wilton Villager, February 2006
Artists’ Different Styles Come Together for Show, The News-Times, Ridgefield, CT, February 13, 2006
Pull Up a Seat: Haviland Street Gallery Has a Winner by L. P. Streitfeld, The Advocate and Greenwich Time, May 2005
Russian Art Historian, Painter Showcases Wonderful Side of Life, by Lois H. Alcosser, The Wilton Bulletin, November 2004
Silvermine Pushes into New Directions by L. P. Streitfeld, The Advocate and Greenwich Time, September 2004
Gallery Representation
Susan Calloway Fine Arts, Washington, DC
Artists’ Space, NYC, NY
Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan, CT
Awards and Grants
2025 Best in Show, Center for Contemporary Printmaking
2017 Best in Show, Ridgefirld Guild of Artists
2004 Connecticut Commission on the Arts Individual Artist Grant
Education
PhD (ABD) Columbia University, NYC in Art History
MA Academy of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia.
MA Moscow University of Linguistics, Moscow, Russia.
Teaching
2001 – present Silvermine Guild Arts Center – painting, printmaking, mixed media courses
2008 -2013 Glen Echo School of Art, Pyramid Atlantic Center
2000 – 2004 New York Academy of Art, art history professor