Hi! I’m Inge Heide. 
I was born in Johannesburg in 1991, and since I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the quiet language of faces, marks, and documents—those everyday relics that hold our identities. After completing my Bachelor of Fine Arts at Rhodes University in 2014, where I majored in painting, I made the move to Cape Town to fully immerse myself in the world of art.

Oil paint is my primary medium but I also find myself reaching for ink and charcoal when a piece asks for a different kind of energy. Much of my work explores the intersections of identity and documentation. Passports, I.D. books, and other personal records often serve as both inspiration and subject, allowing me to blend the formal tradition of portraiture with the language of bureaucracy and belonging.

Over the years, my paintings have been exhibited in a number of group shows, including the Rhodes University Undergraduate Exhibition (2011–2013), the Sasol New Signatures Finalists Exhibition (2013), and Eye Catching Portraits (2013). My entry to the 2013 Sanlam Portrait Awards was selected among the Top 200 out of over 1,780 submissions, and that same year I was invited to participate in the Benetton Small Canvas Project / Imago Mundi, where my work appeared alongside artists like Anton Kannemeyer, Zapiro, and Wim Botha at the 2015 Venice Biennale.

More recently, my portrait Beatrice was selected as one of the Top 40 works in the 2015 Sanlam Portrait Awards, and in 2023, my piece Hello Pat! earned the same recognition. These milestones have continued to fuel my passion for storytelling through portraiture—especially the kind that quietly captures the layered, often overlooked fragments that make us who we are.