Video artist Natalia Stuyk on her acid-trip visuals

Date
5 September 2016

“I never thought I’d be doing this as a job. I’m so happy that I am,” Hackney-based video artist-director Natalia Stuyk tells me of her career making mind-bendingly disorientating visuals. After studying animation at university, Natalia was working in advertising when she began making music videos for friends of friends. “Then, over a glass of wine, a good friend of mine convinced me to take a chance and quit my job and give it a go full-time. It’s just got better and better ever since!”

So far, she has made music videos, fashion films, shorts and GIFs for musicians and DJs including How To Dress Well, Trim + James Blake, Crystal Fighters, Basement Jaxx and Annie Mac, brands such as Kenzo, MAC, Henry Holland, Topman and publications including Vogue and iD. A die-hard Arsenal fan, she has also made a short film for Nike’s Risk Everything campaign featuring neon-hued VHS footage of Ian Wright spliced with commentary by Arsene Wenger.

But when making visual loops that extend into infinity, where do you begin? “My process is a weird one,’ Natalia admits, “because with every project I try and learn something new. So I am always challenging myself. I generally start off with music or an audio loop and certain sounds will look a certain way to me and the video will start to take shape. It’s mostly problem-solving to create whatever is in my head.”

This summer, Natalia has been working on a series of 3D video collages based on photographs she took at the Barbican conservatory. In tropically-tinged “Touch”, oblong shapes coated in exotic pink-flowered palms interlock on a mustard-coloured background to form ever-changing grid shapes. Another just-released video titled “Ž” takes the viewer on an intergalactic trip through a web of multicoloured, palm-patterned light beams. In a third animation, “Bloom”, a stargazer lily rotates, morphs and flickers its way between abstract shapes.

“I’ve been working on a lot of projects for beauty campaigns recently,” Natalia says, “which is a welcome change from music videos. I think I’ve retired from them now. I’m working until the end of November but hopefully I’ll get some time to finish a series of 360° audiovisual loops that are a kind of tongue-in-cheek look at mindfulness. And hopefully next year I’ll be doing more events-based IRL work — I’m getting tired of staring at a screen all day!” We’re as captivated as ever.

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Natalia Stuyk: Bloom

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Natalia Stuyk: Bloom

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Natalia Stuyk: Melt

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Natalia Stuyk: Deep Soap

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Natalia Stuyk: Coral

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About the Author

Bryony Stone

Bryony joined It's Nice That as Deputy Editor in August 2016, following roles at Mother, Secret Cinema, LAW, Rollacoaster and Wonderland. She later became Acting Editor at It's Nice That, before leaving in late 2018.

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