ARTIST STATEMENT
 

Nengi Uranta is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice primarily focuses on String Art, using nails and thread to craft intricate three-dimensional images, as well as Digital Art, which comprises Illustrations and Surrealistic Paintings.

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Her work is shaped by African heritage, contemporary life, and the lived experiences of Black women. She explores existential themes such as fragility, solitude, free will, and the tension between desire and choice, while navigating the interplay of internal and external landscapes. The internal reflects her subconscious and inner world, while the external encompasses the role of culture, identity, and environment in shaping the self.

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Central to her practice is the idea of human beings as vessels that hold memory, emotion, and experience. Through glass-like, luminous figures, she reflects on Africans and humanity at large, as carriers and creators of their own narratives. Her influences include psychology, philosophy, history, and culture, which mirror her position at the intersection of being young, African, and a woman.

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By placing African experiences in dialogue with universal existential questions, her work invites reflection and fosters a deeper understanding of Black womanhood and African identity in the global contemporary art scene.

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Her imagery often returns to four recurring elements – Tiles, Clouds, Water and Vines. Tiles embody the internal, intimate, enclosed spaces of self-awareness. Clouds and water open outward, suggesting the vast and shifting collective experience of culture and nature. Vines weave between these poles; a metaphor for growth and ageing, connection and loss, resilience and abandonment. They tether the inner to the outer, reminding her that identity is never still but constantly intertwining.

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Her practice is always expanding, moving towards new forms and dialogues that will further elevate African representation while engaging with the universal complexities of human existence.
Ultimately, she seeks to elevate the monumental within the mundane, encourage honest self-reflection, and spotlight the lived experiences of Black women.