Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa
Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa was born in a small asbestos mining town near Masvingo, Zimbabwe called Zvishavane formally known as Shabane on the 13th of August 1991 . She is a visual artist and Michaelis School of Fine Art Graduate. Her work experiments with notions of Identity, Femininity, Migratory Practises as well as mysticism and storytelling within the Shona culture.
A detail view of Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa’s artwork as part of her Continuum exhibition in 2018. Photograph courtesy of the artist.
Her method explores generational and embodied knowledges by way of an intuitive art-making process. This process allows her to utilize both conscious and sub-conscious capacities to build an evocative sculptural practice which aims to re-build by re-imagining forgotten and erased histories of her past and culture.
An artwork by Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa titled ALL MY MOTHERS as part of her Continuum exhibition in 2018. Photograph by courtesy of the artist.
Among her accolades which include the Simon Gerson Award, the Cecil Skotnes Scholarship, and the McIver Award, she became the first Black woman to receive the Michealis Prize, awarded for her 2018 graduate body of work 'Continuum'.
A detail view of Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa’s artwork as part of her Continuum exhibition in 2018. Photograph courtesy of the artist.