The origins of Natasha Michaels monotypes lie in historical paintings from the renaissance to the 19th century. Exploring and reinterpreting traditional conventions and genres, Natasha’s work is an investigation of her ambivalence towards the originals. Simultaneously subverting and celebrating, she recasts and directs the sitters, reimagining them as fictional characters. Natasha thinks about what it might be like to sit for an artist or what a traditional portrait might be trying to convey. She upends the conventions that are expected of portraiture and plays with what its purpose is.