Natalia LL's entire, unusually abundant and multifaceted oeuvre might take its motto from a reflection contained in one of her texts from 1987: 'Art is the search for freedom. Freedom is a goal in and of itself, and art realizes that goal'.
As a student, she was involved in photography, graphics and painting. In the 1970s she broadened her scope to include performance art, experimental films, videos, installations and sculptures. In 1970 together with Andrzej Lachowicz and Zbigniew Dłubak she created the Perfamo Gallery, which was active till 1981. Since 1975 Natalia LL has contributed to the global feminist movement through works that explore the reaches of femininity and feminism.
In the early 1970s, Natalia LL's work built conceptual meanings upon seemingly straightforward messages. Intimate Photography – an installation derived from pop-art – had strikingly erotic overtones that bordered on the edge of pornography. These first projects were created in 1971 and 1972, titled Consumer Art and Post-Consumer Art. Here the model performs activities associated with consumption - mainly the literal consumption of suggestive foods, such as bananas, whipped cream, milk. These images were presented as a kind of photographic performances - much like a film. At this point, the artist used photography as a kind of imaginary language to reach a dreamlike realm where these acts were reduced to the level of pure aesthetics and sensual experience. Themes of "non-reality" become all the more palpable in her other works –Śnienie / Dreaming and Piramidy / Pyramids, which were related to traumatic personal (life-threatening) experiences. Natalia LL herself appears in many of her projects (eg. Przestrzeń Wizyjna / Sphere of Vision, 1973).
During the martial law period, Natalia LL's work was inspired by Christian mysticism, the divide between good and evil – even Satanism, though she did not participate in so-called 'Church Art' (Sztuka Przy Kościele) exhibitions (an area of politically-engaged art). Conceptualism was primarily a manifestation of the idea of materialism, but the general belief was that it could lead to specific formal asceticism and thus did not confine the spiritual sphere of art. Natalia LL became an artist who created her art based on a constant internal dialogue between the psyche and the body, which can be regarded as an extremely successful continuation of body art. But her attitude, while it undoubtedly stems from very personal experience, carries a dimension of universality. In her work, we deal with forms of existentialism and transcendence, while taking cues from biblical inspirations.
Trwoga paniczna / Panicked fear (1990) installation - canvas, photography, 6 chairs. From the collection of the National Museum in Wrocław The artist created very suggestive, imaginative, somewhat disturbing pieces under the title Puszysta Tragedia / Downy Tragedy. They present the demonic, bloodthirsty artist swallowing dolls. At the turn of the 80s and 90s, Natalia LL brought out a series of expressionist paint-photography and photography works, such as Trwoga Paniczna / Panicked Fear. These works can be considered among the highest achievements of Polish "staged photography". Pain, suffering, physical transformation of the body inextricably links to questions of the nature of Evil (Satan) and Good (God); the emergence of life and the inevitability of death.
