I am an artist, researcher, educator. I explore how we build alternative publics together. My work spans organising, teaching, research and uses filmmaking, writing, fashion, performance and collaboration to interrogate negotations between power and poetics; between the everyday and possibilities for otherwise.

I am currently studying for an ESRC-funded PhD in Sociological and Cultural Studies at the University of Glasgow (2025 - present). My research is concerned with grassroots creative spaces in the UK as spaces of hope. You can read more about my PhD research here.

I am the founder of Local Senses, a creative group of individuals with varying levels of sight. We began working together in 2017, and have run public projects in three London boroughs. Our biggest project was ‘Local Senses: Mapping in Lewisham’, a commission for Liberty Festival 2022 and Lewisham Borough of Culture. You can read more about Local Senses here, or on our website.

I am a founding director of F.A.T. Studio, a design studio Community Interest Company based on Old Kent Road. I co-founded the Old Kent Road Arts Club, a free community arts space on the Old Kent Road which wich ran from 2021 - 2024. I managed and facilitated the Second Life Club programme, weekly skill share sessions in the studio. You can read more about Second Life Club here.

As Senior England Development Officer (2022-2023), and formerly London Development Officer for Creative Lives (2019-2022), I led on initiatives that promoted resilience in creative grassroots organisations, and addressed barriers to taking part in creative activity. I am the founder of Creative Network Old Kent Road @CN_OKR, a co-creators peer-support network.

I am a visiting lecturer in Curating, Design for Sustainable Futures, Sustainable Fashion and Visual Communication BA and MA programmes. Institutions I have taught at include Academy of Art, Zwolle, Utrecht; Goldsmiths University of London; HKU, Netherlands; London College of Communications; the Royal College of Art, UCA Epsom.

I completed an ESRC-Funded Masters of Research in Sociology at the University of Glasgow in 2025. I hold an MA in Visual Communication from the Royal College of Art (2018) and graduated with a First Class Honours BA in English Literature from the University of Cambridge (2015).


Organisations I have worked with include:


_ Bridgehouse Gardens
_ Camden Disability Action
_ Creative Lives
_ DIY Space for London
_ Equal Arts
_ Goldsmiths University
_ Greenwich and Docklands International Festival
_ Hackney Council
_ Holborn Community Association
_ IKTA
_ Justice4Grenfell
_ Lewisham Borough of Culture
_ Liberty Festival
_ London College of Communication
_ London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine
_ Nika's Kitchen
_ Pandemonium Drummers
_ Parkfield House Nursing Home
_ Rosebud Centre for Girls
_ Royal College of Art
_ Royal National Institute for Blind People
_ Southwark Council
_ Sustrans
_ The Southbank Centre
_ Staffordshire Street
_ Thenga Café
_ Turf
_ UCA Epsom
_ UCA Farnham
_ Walworth Living Room

If you would like to have a chat about any of my projects, or about how we could work together, please get in touch:
natanya@f.a.t.studio.co.uk

Instagram: @chippychipchipzz / Bluesky: @NMDLB