Natalia Mantel’s artistic practice is characterized by paper mosaic made from magazine fragments. By assembling thousands of individual pieces of paper, she creates new visual worlds in which different fragments, colors, and image information are brought together. The technique of paper mosaic allows her to deconstruct existing images and develop new visual contexts from them. In addition, she works with collage, painting, and experimental techniques.
In her series “Ersatzkörper,” she replaces the human body in well-known historical paintings with robot androids. In this way, she connects historical visual worlds with contemporary questions of identity, embodiment, and technology. Familiar motifs by the Old Masters are transformed and placed in a new context. This creates a connection between past and present and an exploration of the relationship between humans and artificial existence.
Biography
Natalia Mantel is a Ukrainian-German artist and art educator whose artistic practice is characterized by paper mosaic made from magazine fragments. By assembling thousands of individual pieces of paper, she creates new visual worlds. Alongside paper mosaic, she works with painting, collage, and experimental techniques.
Originally from Ukraine, she lived in Kyiv for many years and now continues her artistic practice in Berlin. She is currently completing vocational training in painting and art education at the School of Fine Arts and Design in Berlin.
In her artistic work, Natalia Mantel explores themes such as identity, transformation, and the relationship between the human body and artificial structures. By combining traditional visual languages with contemporary questions, she develops an individual visual language.
Her recent exhibitions include the group exhibition “Artspring Berlin 2026” and “Danzig–Berlin” (Berlin, Germany, 2026). Previous exhibitions include “Augen auf, Europa” (Berlin, Germany, 2025), “Artspring Berlin – DURCH DIE ZEIT” (group exhibition, Berlin, Germany, 2025), and the group exhibition “Let’s Compare Mythologies” (Berlin, Germany, 2025).