Zsudayka Nzinga is a mixed media artist and designer from Denver, CO,currently residing in Washington,
DC. Her portrait work features
acrylic, decorative paper, hand dyed
paper, fabric, oil bars, charcoal,
pigment, thread and linocut stamp.
She also creates sculptures and
jewelry using metal.
Nzinga fuses traditional art forms
passed through the Diaspora to create
work which speaks to the power of
history and how visual art aides in
defining culture and identity. Her
subjects are Black Americans and
often women, placed in regal and
empowering poses and scenes. Her
work mimics African American stich
patterns and expounds traditional
southern textile pattern methods and
weaving. Her collage work is hand torn and arranged to create colorful and highly patterned people
and scenes who resemble fabric.
Her interest in fabric and textiles is why her subjects are clothed in intricately designed patterns.
The designs mimic the history and style of African Ankara fabric and introduces bright color and
patterns to high end clothing designs. She has recently begun recreating the designs for a clothing
and home décor line using textile designs created from the artwork of her and her husband. Her
pieces are to create a narrative and archive of Black American history, identity and culture.
Nzinga began her career as an artist in Denver, CO. She painted abstract and realism portraits and
ran an art gallery. She also created art programming for nonprofits and private and charter schools
and ran a Black Arts Festival. She made a name for herself in her early 20’s on the spoken word
poetry scene and travelled the country performing her written work with her art on the cover.
While traveling Nzinga felt more and more inspired to create images, particularly the missing story
of the black woman. “I felt that when I was telling a story in a poem, people had to have read
what I read, seen what I’ve seen to sometimes get the deeper purpose of my work. When I paint
my story, a person can look at it and come to their own conclusions in their own time. I can really
hit them hard but not have to bear the responsibility of having TOLD them.”
She started learning to paint in acrylic 8 years ago. The transition made her focus more on line
work in her paintings. She began to study stained glass windows and the ways portraiture can be
broken up for messaging. This led her to study the work of quilt and collage artists to loosen up
the images and create more movement and include symbols specific to the Black American culture.
