Nadine Mathenjwa is an emerging artist born and raised in Gauteng, South Africa. She graduated from Artist Proof Studio in 2021 and completed her fourth-year internship programme at the studio in February 2023. She’s currently based in Ellis House, Johannesburg, one of the venues that took part in Contra.Joburg.
Nadine says she was not expecting the Vusa Award nomination, let alone winning. “It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time,” she says. “There was a lot going on for me in the weeks before Contra.Joburg and then my studio flooded the day before the event. We had no electricity in the building that day. I was so in my head – I didn’t even really get to think about what was going on with the people visiting. I was just trying to stay afloat and pay rent. A part of me thought if I wasn’t going to sell at least one piece, I’d be moving back home. Winning the award gave me hope again. It’s going to do so much for me, professionally, especially the residency. I’m very excited about that.”
Nadine has always been creative and wanted to study fashion. However, finances were an issue and fashion school was expensive, so she decided to put her artistic talents to use elsewhere and began studying at Artist Proof Studio, where she discovered the world of fine art.
