Natalie Paneng

Natalie Paneng (b. 1996) is a Johannesburg-based multidisciplinary artist whose innovative work spans digital art, new media, and performance. She earned her BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Witwatersrand in 2018, winning Leon Gluckman Prize. Combining her theatre background with self-taught digital skills, Paneng describes herself as a world-builder, creating and archiving imagined realities through digital art.

Paneng has exhibited her work with esteemed institutions such as TMRW Gallery, The National Arts Festival, Blank Projects, Michaelis School of Fine Art, BKHz, Javett UP, Galerie Eigen Art Leipzig, and Mutek. Her first solo exhibition, 'Maze,' was presented internationally at Galerie EIGEN + ART in Leipzig, Germany. She has also participated in prominent artist residencies, including Bubblegum Future 76 Residency, Floating Reverie, Fak’ugesi Digital Innovation Artist Residency, and The Centre of A Less Good Idea’s So Academy’s ‘Thinking in Cardboard’ scenographers mentorship.

In addition to her exhibitions, Paneng has published creative research through Ellipses Journal and Artist Research Africa and was a 202 Fellow with the Institute of Creative Arts and UCT. Recent exhibitions include Galerie Eigen + Art in Leipzig (2023), Stevenson Gallery in Johannesburg (2023), FCA Ghana (2023), Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg (2022), Galerie Konerpark in Berlin (2023), and The Centre For A Less Good Idea in Johannesburg (2023). She has also participated in digital art festivals such as MUTEK Montreal, KIKK Festival, Fak’ugesi Festival, and IDFA. In 2023, Paneng was awarded the Special Jury Prize for her use of creative technology at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam.