Fabric, Florals, and Faces

The Phillips Collection Fellow Arianna Adade reflects on the exhibition Zsudayka Nzinga: Home Coming / Home Going, on view at Phillips@THEARC through September 26.

In Home Coming / Home Going, you are likely to identify these three things shared amongst the artwork: fabric, florals, and faces. Upon entering the space, art lovers are immediately transported into a seemingly constructed living room; but the feelings aroused are anything but a construction. Within the warm, inviting space were handmade chairs and tables covered in African cloths, Florida Water resting next to roses and a bible, and a bookshelf filled with prolific writers from Toni Morrison to Octavia Butler as well as her family portrait. It felt like a living room that reminded me of my own family. This was Zsudayka Nzinga’s goal. 

Growing up in Aurora, Colorado, it was easy for Nzinga to feel a sense of distance from the African diaspora and Black culture. However, her uncle’s downtown apartment is where she saw all parts of the Diaspora come to life. From masks covering the colorful walls to djembe drums and Black literature and history books resting on the coffee table, Nzinga felt a sense of peace, belonging, and joy in her identity in her uncle’s living room. She packed up those feelings and transported them to DC, where she poured them into those very florals, fabrics, and faces that occupy her canvases, constructing a living space that brings her that same tranquility she felt in her uncle’s Colorado home.

Nzinga explores how her Americanness interconnects with her Africanness. By focusing on Panafricanism, she uses her artwork to bridge the displacement that is felt across the Diaspora. Nzinga utilizes cloths from different countries of the continent; from Ghanaian kente cloth to Xhosan shweshwe, she uses fabrics from varying African cultures to highlight her Panafrican identity. Each collage has a face; some reference images from throughout history and some are from her friends and family, but every face tells a story of a specific moment, capturing the Black identity in all time periods and forms. Nzinga purposefully highlights the Black identities by filling the subjects’ faces with life and color, in stark contrast to the colorless white subjects’ faces. Every artwork in Home Coming/ Home Going uses florals, bringing attention to the theme of change and growth.

I was able to help out at a workshop that Zsudayka Nzinga led for teens from ArtReach GW on July 18 that focused on the traditional Japanese collage art of chigiri-e. With the choice of either a self-portrait or their own room, participants created collages that reflected their identity. Nzinga even brought a box filled with different fabrics that she had collected, allowing the students to use many materials to truly let their self-expression shine. There are other hands-on workshops related to the exhibition happening at THEARC this summer, and a closing celebration—don’t miss out!

If you wish to explore the depths of Black collage or experience a home away from home, visit Phillips@THEARC to experience Zsudayka Nzinga’s Home Coming / Home Going.