Natasha Lelenco, Currency #192, 2023, Mixed Media

This piece is one of the latest additions to the "Exchange Currency Series" created by Natasha Lelenco in 2024. It is a unique artwork comprising a meticulously crafted female portrait executed on a treated circular pine wood cut, employing mixed media techniques such as acrylic, nails, staples, etc. Natasha takes stylistic liberties that bridge the precision of figurative portraiture with urban languages. Conceptually, the artwork is part of a project through which the artist, drawing from her own experiences, delves into the theme of foreignness and the sensation of 'not belonging here.' Moreover, it resonates with the experiences of others who have faced the challenges of migration. This particular piece refers, in the inscribed text, to some motivations for migration gleaned from statements of immigrants such as enthusiasm, the desire to thrive, the ambition of a dream, etc., in order to move forward. These artworks are designed to function both individually and in multiple compositions, allowing for installations tailored to the space with as many artworks as desired. Natasha Lelenco, an artist of Moldovan origin, explores themes of foreignness and delves into the well-trodden subject of the value of art with this series. While conventional coins have a fixed value and typically depict a national figure, Natasha's coins showcase anonymous faces and offer variable, often arbitrary, selling values. These coins can function both individually and as panels alongside others from the same series, allowing for the creation of installations as vast as desired. As an interesting curiosity, the artist offers her collectors the possibility to exchange the equivalent value of the percentage that would have been due to the artist from the sale of these coins for future works of her own creation. Therefore, beyond acquiring a wonderful piece of art, they acquire the opportunity to visit the artist's studio and consider the purchase of another work using this as a form of payment. Natasha Lelenco says of this project: "This series is about value and price. I propose to the public the acquisition of a currency as a transfer value only valid for future work of my authorship. This moving value, which has nothing to do with determining the value of the work itself (the currency itself), is decided, in addition to being completely arbitrary in nature, except for a reasoned valuation between the price of one currency and another. These currencies transfer the enhanced value of the artistic object for future work, deliberately leaving aside any symbolic overvaluation that derives from the creative work. However, each piece is a unique work elaborated with deliberate technical flaws, signed, and serves as a certification of original work. The norm is that the faces on currencies belong to kings, presidents of republics, or individuals who represent clear national identification. These currencies, by contrast, present a collection of anonymous profiles enveloped in disconcerting phrases that allude to the concept of a vast community of citizens who live in a state of 'not belonging,' characters who inhabit the depreciation that so often defines origins, laws, and inequality."