Nat Apanay
NAT was born in Naberezhnye Chelny in 1986. The surname Apanay (Apanayev) is known all over the world by talented descendants from the USA to Japan and came from an ancient Kazan merchant family was dated back to the 15th century, whose followers were educators and patrons.
From 2004 to 2010, she studied at the University of Architecture and Construction in Kazan, majoring in urban planning. In parallel, she received a second higher education-a translator from English. During her student years, NAT spent her summers practicing skills of abstract painting in workshops and galleries in New York and London.
In 2012, she moved to Moscow and worked as Chief Architect at Toyota & Lexus, where she was responsible for developing and implementing brand architecture and design standards. In 2014, she was invited to the Jaguar Land Rover Representative Office as Chief Architect. She supervised the construction of a Brand center, boutique and racing ground on the territory of Agalarov Estate in cooperation with Crocus LLC, one of the development leaders.
By 2016, Nat held the position of Senior Architect in one of the largest Moscow companies - Capital Group. Until 2018, she managed projects in cooperation with the Department of Construction of the city of Moscow. She has worked with such world leading companies as architectural bureaus "SOM" and "Herzog de Meuron", design bureaus "Pierre-Yves Rochon Paris", "Massimo Iosa Ghini" and "Citterio Viel", etc.
In 2018, having achieved serious career heights, Nat realized that the author self-expression prevails over all rational arguments. So she left her prestigious job and retreated to her Studio, sometimes leaving it to meditate in the mountains of Nepal, Japan, India, and study the philosophy of Asia. During the year, the artist created a series of abstract works dedicated to the potentials of living beings and the multidimensional nature of reality.
The thirst for information, constant search for ideas and answers led Nat to the philosophy faculty of Moscow State University by Lomonosov, where the artist found a source of inspiration for his creative work, in conjunction with the study of scientific works on neurophysiology, lectures on quantum physics and cosmology, as well as manuals on human anatomy. In parallel with her studies and searching in the workshop, Nat entered the prestigious British Chelsea College of the Arts in London, famous of artists with a world name.
"I remember very clearly when I was five I had a crucial dream to become a famous artist. But, as I grew up, I adjusted myself to norms and standards in order to survive, tried to be obedient and correct – just like everyone else. But even physically I felt the alienness of the environment in which I came for money, comfort, an apartment in Moscow, a bright easy life and hedonism. Throughout this time, I have been searching for myself through science, psychoanalysis, esotericism and etc. I understood what it was like to be myself. I was reborn and reached my childhood, forgiving and accepting myself, freed from self-identification through the body corporeality, both male and female exist in harmony into my inside, I feel as an androgyne myself. And now I embody my thoughts and ideas, love and hate in what I do - I create infinite worlds. I have chosen an honest path of research, it is complex and has no end."