Natali Downing

After Dinner

Natali Downing (b. 1982) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Mossel Bay, South Africa. Growing up as a bilingual white woman in post-apartheid South Africa, her personal experiences deeply influence her examination of social structures and inherited ideologies. She earned a Bachelor of Visual Art from the University of South Africa, graduating with distinction. Prior to her art studies in 2014, she completed an LLB degree at Unisa. Her practice is rooted in research, often beginning with visual diaries and an archive of images that serve as a foundation for her conceptual framework. Recently, the artist has pivoted her focus towards painting, while still engaging in drawing and printmaking. Downing’s work confronts both historical and contemporary social issues from a female perspective. Currently living in a more conservative, largely white Afrikaner community, she utilizes her practice to critically examine her own positionality—questioning inherited belief systems and social dynamics with nuance, humour, and empathy.