autobiography of my mother 2022
Two-color lithograph with chine collé
Triptych; Each sheet: 17 x 13.25 in.
Publisher: EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
Edition: 20
autobiography of my mother is a triptych, printed by Master Printer Jazmine Catasús, combining both handwritten and type texts. Hairpins reflect grooming, and to see them scattered across the page yet leaving space for unseen photographs highlights the intimacy of the single statement that rests at the bottom of the two prints: “things I share only with you”. The fronts of the photographs are never revealed; however, the backs show the care of handwritten notes listing the people, locations, and dates when they were taken.
Mutiti emphasizes the significance of hair braiding as a sophisticated form of community technology of the African Diaspora. Through her design sensibility, Mutiti builds on the visual vocabulary of braided patterns to create a full set of typographic characters. Kusina Mai/Kusina Mai Futi (2021; Publisher: Stable, Washington, DC; Printed at EFA RBPMW), a diptych screenprint, is based on a system of modules that can be interchained to produce a range of patterns and variable typographic characters. This formal experimentation can be seen in various iterations across Mutiti’s long-term research project: RUKA (to knit/ to braid/ to weave), which draws parallels between African hair braiding practices and digital image-making processes.
With public projects and zine making,Mutitiextends the aesthetics of African Hair braid salons, self-care, and the forms of community and exchange that take place within them.
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Nontsikelelo Mutiti is a Zimbabwean-born visual artist and educator. She is invested in elevating the work and practices of Black peoples past, present, and future through a conceptual approach to design, publishing, archiving practices, and institution building. Mutiti holds a diploma in Multimedia from the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA) and an MFA from the Yale School of Art, with a concentration in Graphic Design.
Residencies and awards include: DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program (2022); Berlin Artist Program, BKP (2021); Soros Arts Fellowship, Open Society Foundation (2019); History of Art: Women in Publishing, Center for Book Arts (2019); Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Grant (2015); Ruka (To Braid/ to knit/ to weave) for Recess Session (2014).
Recent group exhibitions include, TEXTURES: The History of Black Hair, Kent State University Museum (2021); Sampled Ground, DAADGalerie, Berlin, Germany (2021); BOXWALLPOTS, Stable, Washington DC (2021); Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA Salon), Baltimore, Maryland (2020); Living in America, ICPNY, New York (2020); Surfacing, Mono Practice, Baltimore (2020); Talking Pictures, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2017), On Visibility and Camouflage, We Buy Gold in Brooklyn, New York, Whitney Museum in New York (2016), Salon Style, Studio Museum in Harlem (2015).
