NATACHA VILLAMIA SOCHAT
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
M.F.A., Tufts University / School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Post-Baccalaureate, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Post-Baccalaureate, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
M.D., Boston University School of Medicine
B.A., Biology, Boston University
Additional studies include monotype and monoprint with Catherine Kernan (1998) and bookmaking at the New Hampshire Institute of Art (1998).
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2027 (planned)
Face Pattern Painting, Fuquay-Varina Arts Center, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
2025
Chasing Sunbeams: Celebrating Summer’s Palette, Halle Cultural Arts Center of Apex, Apex, North Carolina
2024
Lo Que Tengo Que Decir, Diamante Arts and Cultural Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
2022
I Create Retablos, Cary Arts Center, Cary, North Carolina
2021
Faces and Patterns, Brown Gallery, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Eye Am Witness – Paintings for Children and Other Adults, Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Salisbury, North Carolina
2020
Retablos, Cary Arts Center, Cary, North Carolina (postponed due to COVID-19)
Uprooted – Making Roots, City of Raleigh Municipal Art Collection (CMAC), Raleigh, North Carolina
2019
Making Roots, Halle Cultural Arts Center, Apex, North Carolina
Retablos, Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Salisbury, North Carolina
Between Presence and Absence (Making Roots), The Carrack Modern Art, Durham, North Carolina
2018
NeuroMorphic, United Arts Council, Raleigh, North Carolina
2012
NeuroMorphic (installation), NK Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
2011
NeuroMorphic (installation), Beland Gallery, Lawrence, Massachusetts
2006
M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, NeuroMorphic Universe: In a Universo NeuroMórfico Saxa Loquuntur, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2004
Emergence, Contos Gallery, Rockport, Massachusetts
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (2015–PRESENT)
From 2015 onward, Villamia Sochat has exhibited extensively in regional and national juried and invitational exhibitions throughout North Carolina and the Southeast, including venues such as ArtSpace (Raleigh), Waterworks Visual Arts Center (Salisbury), Diamante Arts and Cultural Center (Raleigh), Halle Cultural Arts Center (Apex), Dock 1053 (Raleigh), Page Walker Arts Center (Cary), Duke University, VAE Raleigh, Maria Howard Arts Center (Rocky Mount), and Ellington White Gallery (Fayetteville). Her work has been included in recurring exhibitions such as Herencia, Art of the Scientist, FALC National Juried Exhibitions, and Where Are You Really From?, as well as ArtFields (Lake City, South Carolina).
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (PRIOR TO 2015 – SUMMARY)
Between 1997 and 2014, Villamia Sochat exhibited widely in juried and invitational exhibitions across New England and the Northeast, including the Currier Museum of Art (Manchester, New Hampshire), Cambridge Art Association (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Mills Gallery at Boston Center for the Arts, Copley Society of Art (Boston), Fort Point Gallery (Boston), Portsmouth Museum of Art (New Hampshire), Kimball-Jenkins Estate (Concord, New Hampshire), Brandeis University, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These exhibitions include national and regional juried shows, academic exhibitions, and museum-affiliated programs, several of which resulted in awards and institutional recognition.
PERFORMANCE AND ONGOING PROJECTS
Ritual of Giving (2002–present)
A long-term performance and social practice centered on the creation and gifting of artworks as acts of connection and gratitude.
In My Garden – The DNA of Memory (1988–present)
A performance-based philosophical project linking seed preservation, gardening, memory, and regeneration.
The Lint Project (ongoing)
A conceptual installation and performance work examining accumulation, trace, and the overlooked material residue of daily life.
The Actual Experience is the Work of Art (1998–present)
An ongoing philosophical framework positioning painting and making as forms of lived performance.
SELECTED AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
Arts and Culture Award for North Carolina, Diamante Arts and Cultural Center
Currier Museum of Art / New Hampshire Art Association Annual Juried Exhibitions, multiple Awards of Excellence
Copley Award, Copley Society of Art, Boston
Tufts University Graduate Fellowship (Merit-Based Award for Excellence in Studio Art)
Brandeis University Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship for Excellence in Fine Arts
COLLECTIONS
Duke Energy Corporation, Durham, North Carolina
Diamante Arts and Cultural Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
Numerous private collections, national and international
SELECTED STATEMENTS
“Chaos is the ultimate creator of the new.”
“The Actual Experience is the Work of Art.”