Artist Statement
My work grows out of a slow, responsive practice that centers presence, connection, and care-for the natural world, and for ourselves. Whether I’m creating art or holding space for others through my expressive arts therapy practice, it all begins with relationship. I spend time moving through landscapes, noticing what’s unfolding, gathering memories, and responding to what emerges.
I’m drawn to the ways memory, place, and identity are always shifting. Letting go is part of the process-both in artmaking and in healing. It reflects the impermanence we see in nature and reminds me that growth often comes through change and uncertainty.
My creative practice is deeply tied to my work as an expressive arts therapist. Both are rooted in slowing down, noticing what’s beneath the surface, and trusting the process. In the studio and in the therapy space, I value the quiet moments that invite us into deeper relationship-with the earth, with others, and with ourselves.
By reframing everyday encounters with the natural world as moments of meaning and connection, I hope to invite others into a deeper sense of belonging and into the kind of care that leads to protection, restoration, and healing.
Bio
Natalia Torres del Valle is a multidisciplinary artist and Registered Expressive Arts Therapist based in Hillsborough, NC. Her work explores healing, memory, and connection to place, often emerging from a slow and meditative practice rooted in reciprocity with the natural world. In 2023, she was selected as an Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park.
Natalia integrates creative expression into therapeutic and community spaces, using the arts to support resilience, identity, and belonging. Her artistic process centers on a reciprocal relationship with place-gathering natural materials and creating in dialogue with the landscapes they come from.
Deeply inspired by the environment and the quiet rhythms of the land, Natalia’s practice invites reflection on what we notice, what we remember, and what we are called to protect. Her work has been featured in The Underline by the Orange County Arts Commission, VoyageRaleigh Magazine, and All She Makes magazine.
Publications
Mulling it over with Natalia Torres del Valle, Charlotte Russell Contemporary
Artist Natalia Torres del Valle’s Strikingly Sculptural Textured Paintings, The Underline
Issue 4, All She Makes Magazine
Daily Inspiration: Meet Natalia Torres del Valle, VoyageRaleigh
NCMA Recommends, North Carolina Museum of Art
Residencies
2023
Acadia National Park Artist-in-Residence
Exhibitions
2023
Object as Vessel, Greensboro Project Space-Greensboro, NC
Reclamation, Diamante Arts & Cultural Center-Raleigh, NC
We don’t Care: reclaiming our environment, Pop Box Gallery-Durham, NC
30×30: Art, Nature, and Science, Museum of Life+Science-Durham, NC
Invitational Latinx show/Invita Arte Contemporaneo Latinx, Frank Gallery-Chapel Hill, NC
Coalesce, Eno Arts Mill Gallery-Hillsborough, NC
Open Source, Sertoma Arts Center-Raleigh, NC
Open Source, Lump Gallery-Raleigh, NC
2022
They can be Both, Truist Gallery-Durham, NC
Ephemeral/Eternal, Visionary Art Collective-Virtual Exhibition
Construyendo Puentes/Building Bridges, Eno Arts Mill Gallery-Hillsborough, NC
Experiments in Form, Charlotte Russell Contemporary + Hartwell-Raleigh, NC
Taking Up Space, Pocket Gallery-Raleigh, NC
Spring to Life, 311 Gallery-Raleigh, NC
Fresh, Artspace-Raleigh, NC
Landform Meditations (solo), Halle Cultural Arts Center-Apex, NC
HOME?, Eno Arts Mill Gallery-Hillsborough, NC
An Evening of Local Art, Eno House-Hillsborough, NC
2021
Herencia, Diamante Arts & Cultural Center-Raleigh, NC
Durham Art Guild 67th Annual Juried Exhibition, SunTrust Gallery-Durham, NC
COSO (Contemporary South) 2021 Biennial, VAE-Raleigh, NC
The Art of Water V, James May Gallery-Virtual Exhibition
Rise, Play + Inspire Gallery-Virtual Exhibition
Reintegration (solo), Yonder-Hillsborough, NC
Beauty in the Mundane, Art Mums United-Virtual Exhibition
Members Extravaganza, Durham Art Guild-Virtual Exhibition
Catharsis, Play + Inspire Gallery-Virtual Exhibition
2020
FRESH, Artspace-Raleigh, NC
Paint it Orange: En Plein Air Paint-Out, Hillsborough Arts Council-Hillsborough, NC
Reintegration (solo)-Hillsborough, NC
If she could do it all, she would., Spilt Milk Gallery-Virtual Exhibition
2019
Community Art Show, The Carrack-Durham, NC
Latino Arts Exhibition, Halle Cultural Arts Center-Apex, NC
Herencia, The ArtsCenter-Raleigh, NC
Monster Drawing Rally, NC Museum of Art-Raleigh, NC
Final Community Art Show, The Carrack-Durham, NC
Art of the Natural World, Halle Cultural Arts Center-Apex, NC
Hispanic Heritage Month Art Exhibit, North Carolina Department of Administration-Raleigh, NC
2018
Community Art Show, The Carrack-Durham, NC
Latino Arts Exhibition, Halle Cultural Arts Center-Apex, NC
2017
Community Art Show, The Carrack-Durham, NC
Latino Arts Exhibition, Halle Cultural Arts Center-Apex, NC
Nasty Women, The Carrack-Durham, NC
2016
The Politics of Love, Halle Cultural Arts Center-Apex, NC