Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Contemporary art gallery Atelier will present the first solo exhibition of work by NYC artist Natalie Zeunges from Sept. 13 through Oct. 25.
Soft Targets is an exhibition of 10 paintings, three drawings and one video installation by Zeunges evoking the landscapes and fauna of her childhood in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. This lush and romantic work emerged from the tangled brush of the artist’s hometown, a place she describes as both “a sanctuary and a snare” for her, according to a provided news release from Atelier. The result is not just a depiction of her native woods, but a mediation on what it means to watch, to return and to remember.
Many of the paintings are carved into the shapes of hunted animals, rifles and domestic dwellings. Chosen for their symbolic resonance within rural American vernacular, they are signifiers of violence, tradition and home, the release states. Inside the silhouettes, Zeunges paints fragments of landscapes and interiors in gouache on paper. They are gentle, quiet, and familiar, and represent the parts of home for which the artist longs.
The matte, velvety surface of the gouache allows the landscapes to feel soft and intimate, while the solidity of the wood gives weight and physicality to the imagery. Here one can see delicate stories within heavy forms and romance within reality.
Zeunges explained, “Through the synthesis of shape, material and symbolism, I reimagine home as a place where memory evolves into myth, and the truth, if it exists at all, is never whole.”
According to Atelier owner and Director Sea Grandon, “Natalie’s work is stunningly beautiful and layered. While the imagery is specific to a particular region, the effect is universal in the way it conjures memories of our own childhood topographies and geographies. Our childhood lands are at once familiar and mysterious. Soft Targets is a romantic investigation of the individual mythologies we weave about the environments in which we live and have lived.
“I believe visitors to the show will experience a primal connection to the animals depicted in the works. They are the fauna of the places we have lived, the main characters of the fables and fairytales we read as children, and the protectors of the land. While the animals inhabiting these forests are all the prey of man, there is a quiet and enduring strength in their vulnerability and a wisdom in their presence; these woodland creatures seem to be the guardians of our truths.”
Other works in the show are born of the artist’s fascination with trail camera footage she has been collecting in the forests of upstate New York. Using the technology and lens of a hunter, Zeunges has been able to capture the woodland creatures and the secret world they inhabit.
Zeunges explained, “I am in conversation with the distance — between myself and the land, between the present and the past, and between the living moment and its record.
“Through this series as a whole, I am crafting a personal folklore, one that helps me speak honestly through fiction about the push and pull of belonging. Each piece is a kind of elegy, or maybe a confrontation, with a region that holds both safety and threat, comfort and grief.”
Zeunges was recently commissioned to create a painting for a pivotal scene in an upcoming film starring Natalie Portman. “The Gallerist” is a thriller that revolves around an exhibition at Art Basel Miami and will be released in 2026.
“It is an exciting time in Natalie’s career, and I am honored to be able to host her first solo exhibition at Atelier this autumn,” Grandon said.
Soft Targets opens Sept. 13 and runs through Oct.25, with an opening reception on Saturday, Sept. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Atelier’s hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
