We were lucky to catch up with Natalya Nova recently and have shared our conversation below.

Natalya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

He Wants Me To Remember It, 2017

I live in New York—a city that chews you up, picks its teeth, and then charges you rent. I moved here at nineteen, dragging a suitcase and an attitude, thinking I’d conquer the world. No parents, no safety net—just this reckless belief that I’d make it somehow.

It took me years to figure out who I was. Even longer to find him.

Before him, there was a parade of mistakes. Men with big promises and small souls. One I thought I’d marry—stupid.

Then came heartbreak—my best friend Ian died in a car accident. The universe was taking me apart, piece by piece. Enter existential crisis.

One night, sitting in the dark, a thought crossed my mind: Well, that’s it. Time to go.

The thought of death didn’t scare me. I felt euphoric, drunk on the idea of living life to the fullest before I “go”.

So, I went to Paris.
A friend let me crash at her place—bless her heart. I turned 28 in that city, a number that felt both ancient and trivial. I invited everyone I knew to celebrate with me. I invited him also.

Back in New York, we’d had this unfinished thing; in Paris, we finished it. And then we burned the whole damn thing down to the ground.

We didn’t just fall into each other; we crashed. Hard. Messy. Perfect.

I won’t give you all the dirty details—this isn’t that kind of story.

What I will say is that I’d given up on love, and love found me anyway. It leaned over and slapped me across the face. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t polite. It was raw, furious, and absolutely alive.

It didn’t just knock. It broke down the door, held me by the throat, and said: Get your shit together, woman. You’re staying here—with me.

I remember looking at him, really seeing him for the first time. And damn, he was beautiful. I laughed through my tears, thinking about all those prayers I whispered during my Christian phase, begging for a man who could save me. Someone strong, like my grandfather—the only man who never let me down. And there he was, my knight in shining armor, standing in the wreckage of my old life, holding out his hand.

It felt endless, like the universe looping back on itself.

When I moved to a bigger place on the Upper West Side, I decided it was time to tell this story. Not in a journal. Not in whispers. I wanted it loud, alive, immortal.

There was this huge wooden board I’d been lugging around for years—a piece of a crate I found on the street with Ian before he died. We were going to turn it into art. That never happened. The board became a relic of something unfinished.

I decided to paint He Wants Me To Remember It, word for word, across its surface. It took six months of sleepless nights, hunched over that board, filling it with emotions that poured out of me.

To some, it may look like a story of lust. To me, it’s a confession, a hymn, a promise. It’s my way of saying: I love you.

I think of James Joyce, writing his filthy letters to Nora Barnacle, his “dirty little fuckbird.” I think about how much he wanted her—all of her, even the parts most people pretend don’t exist. That’s the kind of love I’m talking about. The kind that takes you apart and puts you back together, slightly crooked but somehow better.

I painted this piece because I had to. Because love like this—mad, raw, infinite—is art worth creating. And a life worth living.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Natalya Nova. I’m an artist—photographer, painter, writer and filmmaker.
I was born in Orenburg, Russia. At nineteen I answered what Joseph Campbell describes as the “call to adventure”, and moved to New York City.
Those early years felt like wandering through a dream—no plan, just an endless sense of possibilities. I always had a camera in my hand to capture it all. Over time, I began craving the structure of education I’d grown up with in Russia.
Enrolling at the International Center of Photography (ICP) was a turning point. There, Allen Frame helped me uncover my personal mythology and trust my instincts, laying the foundation for my artistic voice. I’ll never forget leaving my final class with him, tears in my eyes, saying, “I can’t believe it’s over”. He smiled and replied, “Darling, it’s only the beginning”.

In my work, I explore the realms between dreams and reality, diving into universal archetypes and metaphors to tell stories that resonate on both personal and collective levels. Inspired by Carl Jung’s theory of the Collective Unconscious, I see my art as both a mirror and a lens, reflecting human mythology.
I’m proud to have exhibited and sold my work across the USA and Europe. My series Darling has won multiple awards, including 1st Prize in the professional Fine Art, Portrait category at the International Photography Awards.
While these accolades mean a lot, what moves me most is seeing my work resonate with others.

I look forward to what lies ahead, always believing that the best is yet to come.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Yes, internal resources such as the law of attraction and the power of the subconscious mind.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The Power of Myth series by Joseph Campbell, along with his books The Hero’s Journey and The Hero with a Thousand Faces; all of Haruki Murakami’s works; Jack Kerouac’s On the Road; Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth have significantly influenced my thinking and philosophy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.natalyanova.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supernovaplayroom/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalya-nova-a5a337164
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pP67epKtxRs
• Other: https://www.supernovaplayroom.com/

Image Credits

Image 1 – He Wants Me to Remember It, 2017 (Acrylic Painting on Wood)
Image 2 – She Purified Her Bloodstream with Her Thoughts, 2024 (Self-Portrait, Homage to Pablo Picasso)
Image 3 – Incredibly Dirty & Absolutely Filthy, 2021 (Self-Portrait, Silkscreen on Wood)
Image 4 – Don’t Panic, 2018 (Self-Portrait, Mixed Media Photograph)
Image 5 – Soulmates, 2024 (Self-Portrait, Acrylic on Clothing and Chair)
Image 6 – Darling, 2022 (at Duggal NYC)
Image 7 – Darling, 2022 (Mixed Media Photograph)
Image 8 – Red on Blue, 2022 (Abstract Version, Acrylic Painting)
Image 9 – Above the Treetops, 2018 (from Self-Portraits, Solo Exhibition at Leica Gallery NYC)