On 17 October 2025, something extraordinary happened in Harare.

After years of creating, learning, unlearning and sharing my work quietly with the world, I finally stepped into the room where my stories lived on the walls; stories painted in colour, memory and spirit. Nzwisa, my debut solo exhibition, opened its doors and in that moment I felt the fullness of everything I had been gathering over the years.

Now that the exhibition has come and gone, I find myself looking back through my canvases, my social media posts, the shows I’ve been part of, and the many hands and hearts that lifted me along the way. This blog is not just a reflection; it is a thank-you.

Finding My Voice: The Early Work

When I began sharing my art online in 2023, I had no fixed destination; only a deep urge to reconnect with the textures and spirit of the home that shaped me. The earliest posts on my social media show this rediscovery: bold impasto strokes, intricate dot work, silhouettes of African womanhood, and pieces pulsing with spiritual meaning. I was painting my memories. Painting my questions. Painting my way back home. Those posts became the quiet beginning of a journey that would soon grow far beyond my expectations.

2024: Emerging Into the Public Eye

Although I’d started painting in 2022, opportunities began to open in 2024, and with them came exhibitions that expanded my artistic world.

Being part of New Black Narrative exhibition at Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol felt like a major turning point. It was the first time I saw my work held in a major institutional space, surrounded by other powerful, contemporary Black voices.

In October, I exhibited during Black History Month in the Black Listed exhibition in Bristol, another deeply affirming experience.

When I received word that I had been shortlisted for the Artful Prize for Painting, I shared the announcement with immense gratitude. It felt like the first formal recognition that my art had finally found its footing.

One of the most beautiful collaborations of that year was my joint exhibition with photographer Glenn Edwards. I wrote ekphrastic poems responding to his photographic series Home: In Another Land. Curating the visual-literary dialogue between his lens and my voice strengthened my belief in storytelling across mediums.

Alongside these larger exhibitions, I also took part in the PRSC group shows in Bristol. They were intimate, community-rooted spaces that allowed me to experiment, connect and grow. I made friends there that I afterwards collaborated with in writing and publishing. These shows kept me grounded and reminded me of the everyday magic of shared creative spaces.

2025: A Year of Deepening

My year started with the Sokari London Charity Art Exhibition in Bristol. This event allowed me to use my art in service of community – a principle deeply tied to my creative ethos.

Being shortlisted three times as an Artful Prize Finalist reaffirmed that consistency, growth and authenticity matter.

With each of these exhibitions and experiences, I felt Nzwisa forming inside me: a call to gather everything I had been carrying.

My artistic journey took a profound turn when I attended a stone sculpting workshop with Brian Nyanhongo in Great Malvern. That meeting led to a 10-day sculpting residency with Agnes Nyanhongo in Zimbabwe. Learning directly under such a legendary artist redefined my relationship with form, weight and ancestry. Stone sculpting deepened my visual language in ways that undeniably shaped Nzwisa.

The Homecoming of Spirit

Nzwisa means “a taste”, and the exhibition featured samples from my diverse series of paintings. It engaged audiences with themes including:

• Spiritual guardianship, ancestral memory, ritual in traditional Zimbabwean cosmology
• Diasporic memory and cultural continuity
• African womanhood       

The sculptures I carved under the guidance of Agnes Nyanhongo were also part of the display.

This exhibition brought together the story of my becoming. The works traced my evolution from an amateur painter creating out of necessity, to an artist consciously building a practice rooted in heritage, memory and self-determination. Works spanning the shift from painting as an extension of poetry into painting as a vocation in its own right.

The selected pieces reflected my dual landscapes: the sacred spaces of Zimbabwe, steeped in ancestral and spiritual significance, and the Welsh countryside where I now live, whose beauty offers a new context for reflection. They also spoke to the broader journey of diasporic identity, the push and pull of migration, and the possibility of healing through art.

Together, these works marked a turning point in my trajectory: from self-taught beginnings to an artist ready to pursue a Masters in Fine Art. They embody my passage from painting as escape to painting as commitment; a commitment to freedom, heritage, and a lifelong creative path.

And on the evening of 17 October in Harare, that meaning came alive. The space was full, of art, of spirit, of ancestors, of love. My heart was full!

Guests wandered through the pieces, touching their textures with their eyes, sharing memories that my paintings awakened in them. It was not just an exhibition; it was a homecoming.

A Heartfelt Thank You

I am deeply grateful to the remarkable individuals who honoured me with their presence at the opening of my debut solo exhibition, Nzwisa:

Agnes Nyanhongo, John Mapondera, Shingai Shonhiwa, Chipo Chung, Mashingaidze Gomo, Memory Chirere, Barbara Gotora, Tafadzwa Madzika, Khumbulani Muleya, Shumba Maasai, Tafadzwa Ndoro, Brain Garusa, Irene Staunton, Murray McCartney, Mbuya Humba, Ropafadzo Chidawu, Chiedza Danha, Tinashe Muchuri, Francis Matambirofa, Godess Bvukutwa Chawatama, Nadia Mutisi, Nelson Mutongi, Felex Mutasa, Njabulo Mpofu, and so many other friends and family, too many to mention by name, whose support uplifted me in ways words cannot fully express. Your presence made the night unforgettable. Your belief strengthened mine. You gathered with me, and by doing so, you became part of the story that Nzwisa tells.

Huge thanks to Hope Masike for gracing the exhibition with beautiful mbira music.

I would also like to thank Jonathan Samukange of Dream Hous Studios, for allowing me to convert his film studio into an art gallery for a week.

Thanks to Talent Gwete a.ka. Photographer Wenyu, for the photography.

Very deep gratitude to media personnel who wrote about the success of Nzwisa.

The curator of my exhibition, Simphiwe Munyaradzi Moyo of PaMoyo Gallery, and his assistant Mazvita Kutekwatekwa – I cannot thank them enough for their patience and grace, their hard work and effort in making my debut solo exhibition a success.

Finally, to everyone who came during the exhibition week – Ignatius Mabasa, Lin Barrie, Matalamanda, Cynthia Marangwanda, Elton Ndudzo, Thuthukani Ndlovu, Ethel Kabwato, Pauline Mukondiwa, Siphathisiwe Munga, Gertrude Mutsamwira, Shumirai Nhanhanga, Cliff Tapi, Dennis Nyanhomgo, Beverley Abrahams, to name but a few – heartfelt gratitude for their presence at Nzwisa.

After Nzwisa: The Journey Continues

Though the exhibition has closed, its lessons, blessings and energies remain. I feel expanded artistically, spiritually and personally. Nzwisa was not a destination. It was a doorway.

Thank you to everyone who walked this path with me, both in person and through the digital threads of Chitende Fine Art.

I look forward to continuing this journey with open hands, a full heart, a canvas waiting for its next story, a carving waiting to reveal itself in stone.