Zsudayka Nzinga Designs

03/11/2026

This started as a project collecting scraps. The small pieces I couldn’t bring myself to throw away- I put so much work into every fabric. It evolved as I began affixing the pieces into a story about the relationship between labor and incarceration. Between poverty and criminalization. The aftermath of the transatlantic slave trade. I had more plans for this but I think I should stop here. And let it breathe.

Pipelines
Zsudayka Nzinga
Hand dyed fabric, hand batik fabric, hand marbled canvas, ink
42 x 30 inch collaged tapestry
2026

02/24/2026

I’ve noticed over the last few years of my studies and discussions, that we talk about Freedom like it’s an object. Like it’s a thing that gets distributed or has to be taken and held tightly too. Or we talk about Freedom like it’s a destination. Like you get there and you can FEEL it, somehow. Harriet Tubman said her first moments of freedom were her saddest and most lonely, realizing all she had left behind. That loneliness is what drove her back to get her family. I’ve read similar sentiments from so many people who ran away and then returned because they missed their people. The freedom didn’t feel like what they imagined, it wasn’t as easy to hold and contain.

This painting reexamines the American flag as a mode of physical and mental transport. The American experience is really a cycle of passages and migrations, a movement between north and south and a flickering burst west. It flips the stripes to the bottom and posits the blue as just beyond the river. The stars are in the skin of the figure, also composed of cotton which repeats though her dress. The women she leaves behind dance across her smock, a reminder of her role at “home”. The laborers wrap around her, defining her. But she is alone. Sitting in the moment right before she “finds” the freedom she’s been searching for.

Zsudayka Nzinga
Close Enough to Touch It
Hand dyed fabric, hand batik fabric, artist designed and printed fabric and paper, ink on canvas
42 x 29 inches
2026

02/17/2026

Zsudayka Nzinga
Neck Tie
Acrylic on paper
9x12 inch collaged paper
2026
$1200

02/13/2026

Thank you WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore for this amazing interview about the exhibition She Speaks at Banneker Douglass Tubman Museum

02/12/2026

For the last two years I’ve been researching symbols and how an image or object can communicate a specific cultural or historical experience. These hand dyed and printed fabrics serve as the narrative to the figures in my work. Focusing on Black American history, my work uses fashion and figure to tell the underlying stories of our existence. This piece features plants (monstera and cotton), seashells, cowry shells, laborers, snakes, juju bags and more to explore the relationship between two women.

This is one of 3 new pieces that I can’t wait to show you framed. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Zsudayka Nzinga
The Sisters
Hand dyed muslin, hand batik muslin, ink, artist designed and printed paper and fabric
31x26 inches on canvas
2026
$4000

TerrellArtsDC.com

01/29/2026

Check out this close up video of the Patron Goddess of the Black American Mermaid by Zsudayka Nzinga

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUGYfcajuy-/?igsh=MXJwaWdoc3M1Mm5veQ==ok

01/27/2026

I’ve had a long term project of creating Patron Gods and Goddesses of different aspects of Black American history. This is the latest, the Patron Goddess of Black American Mermaids.

Framed in cowrie and seashell offerings to the sea, she floats in the water checking her reflection. Her head wrap is made of cotton and her blouse, pieces of flag and cotton bark root. The mermaid is also the conjurer, and this is reflected in her skirts. She carries the sea, her conjure bottles, indigo. The ships, her juju bags.

She also houses the spirit of rebellion and revenge. Uprising moves through her skirts in the form of dance and revolution. She carries her axe and wields her snakes. Surrounded by her symbols of power, she uses the water as a conduit to connect to her people.

I wanted to give her depth. Her own lore. The ability to read her complex history and wonder which water way you might find her. Is she in a flooded out city? The coast of New Orleans? Guardian of the Gullah Geechee? Cruising the Chesapeake Bay? Is she traveling the routes of the Second Middle Passage?

Zsudayka Nzinga
Patron Goddess of the Black American Mermaids
Hand dyed muslin, hand batik muslin, ink, artist printed and designed paper, seashells
47 x 33 in collaged textile
2026

10/15/2025

A bunch of wonderful folks and particularly one (marqui lol) have asked me about creating a reading list. I have a bibliography and was originally posting that but decided to instead write some reviews on each book I’ve read over the last two years as I was studying for my thesis and for my paintings. So on my Substack I’ll be posting the books and a bit about what they’re about, highlights, if it’s a difficult read etc and if you’re reading it and want to discuss it with me, I’ll be super open to discuss there. They won’t be posted in order. I just finished this so it’s first but I’ll be posting as I reflect on each book.

https://open.substack.com/pub/zsudaykanzinga/p/south-to-america?r=1l648c&utm_medium=ios

08/14/2025

Zsudayka Nzinga
“Leap of Faith”
Hand dyed and batik fabric, ink, hand marbled paper, decorative paper, artist designed and printed paper and fabric
33x42 inch collaged tapestry
2025

03/30/2025

Scenes from my studio as I prepare for my solo opening on Saturday April 5 from 3-6 at Art of Noize in DC. These drawings are on hand marbled paper. I have been really excited to discover that i am a printmaker as much as a painter. And I never gave any value to my drawings. They were just the start of a collage for me. But having people come into my studio and see the drawings and respond to them really encouraged me to consider my drawing as an element of my practice. I’ve got a drawing on view at Honfleur on hand marbled canvas. But this solo will be the first time I show works on paper EVER. And a chance to collect a new kind of work from me. These have to be seen up close. There is so much nuance and delicacy to the way they are made.

TerrellArtsDC.com

10/13/2024

See you Saturday https://wix.to/pzcSioG
🎨 Join us this Saturday 6-8 for an art exhibition curated by Zsudayka Nzinga Terrell featuring the artists in residency at the Fillmore School and 2024 Washington award winners. 🖼️✨"American Soup for the Soul" explores the melting pot of American experience exploring q***r identities, family, immigration, culture, history, movement and dance RSVP now at https://wix.to/oz0TJSk 🎟️

Work by Stephanie Mercedes and MK Bailey