Nsika Mhlongo is a contemporary South African artist. In her work the artist explores ideas on self-acknowledgement, desirability juxtaposed to violence. Born in 1998 in Richards Bay, South Africa, she studied at the Centre for Visual Arts, at the University of Kwazulu Natal and graduated in 2020 with a BA in Visual Arts. After 4 years of working as an English teacher, she’d go on to meet her mentor and friend Thokozani Mthiyane, who has played a pivotal role in starting her artistic career.

Through his mentorship, she has been able to meet acclaimed figures in the industry such as Dominic Tshabangu, Ayana V. Jackson, and Kagiso Pat Mautloa to name a few. She worked briefly under Senzeni Marasela’s supervision at the Still Art Residency, Ellis House. She also got the privilege to work with Thokozani’s old-time mentor, Thami Jali, at the Linbro Park Studios.

She also hosts workshops alongside Thokozani and Thami for kids. She has participated in the Business Of Being an Artist, a workshop founded by the Meta Foundation in the year of 2023. At the end of the workshop, she got to exhibit in a group exhibition at August House. She currently works at the University of Johannesburg as an intern Gallery Assistant. The artist currently works and lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

As an artist, I explore the transformation of the female body within a societal framework where women are frequently objectified, judged, and subjected to violence. My creative process involves illuminating the unspoken facets of my identity, drawing inspiration from personal experiences to foster dialogue between myself and the viewer. I am acutely aware of the societal influences that shape self-perception, particularly for women in the predominantly male-dominated art industry, often resulting in portrayals that feel disconnected and unrelatable.

Growing up as an African woman in conservative spaces, I faced challenges in representing myself authentically and accepting my true identity. Through my art, I reclaim agency over my body, using my encounters with rejection and violence to convey poignant narratives that evolve with me. The vulnerability of the female form often leads to a loss of power, with violence leaving lasting scars or reminders. The female form then adapts to these changes, carrying the weight of these experiences. Depictions of violence inflicted on women is often idealized and detached from the true turmoil experienced by the women depicted. My work seeks to reveal these authentic emotions, highlighting how the female form adapts to and carries the weight of these experiences.

I aim to embrace the dynamic nature of the female form, reflected in the layers of marks, strokes, and splashes that create textured surfaces. Art serves as my primary means of emotional expression, exposing vulnerabilities that are otherwise difficult to articulate verbally but are carried by the body. I employ a variety of mediums and experimental materials, incorporating my own physicality as both a reference and a tool. Deliberately treating materials with a sense of carelessness adds to the fragility in my work, emphasizing the nuanced complexities of the female experience.

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Mild anxiety, 2025 Acrylic and charcoal on canvas 65 x 80 cm