"I consider myself a storyteller. Using textures, and textiles and papers my narratives emerge...
I am a mixed media artist and papermaker. I have worked in multiple mediums, beginning as a graphic designer. Work in display greatly influenced a love for the versatility of paper as an art medium. Initially prompting work with papier-mâché sculptures and assemblages.
For the past two decades, I have focused on incorporating vintage lace and textiles into handmade paper which I use in mixed media quilts paintings collages and installations. I inherited an appreciation for repurposing textile and found objects from my grandmother Esther. She recycled everything from an old garment down to the threads... Nothing in our house was wasted. And I find something grounding giving things with history new life in my art. Repurposing also feels like a way to respect the earth. As Axel Vervoordt notes, there is already enough natural and man-made elements on the earth to create from… We don’t have to continue to make more materials.
I think my art is lyrical and spiritual. Mostly abstracted narratives that are intentionally vague. Because I want the viewer to have room to find meaning, with or without, the guidance of my intentions and symbols. Though I feel deeply connected to the complexities of my American and Africana roots, and generally incorporate iconography or textiles from the African diaspora into the work.”
Rosalind Nzinga Vaughn-Nichol was born in Indiana into a multi-generational family of artisans and craftsmen. She studied drawing and painting at Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana / Purdue Universities, Indianapolis, Indiana; received a BFA from California State University Long Beach, California; and a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Care, and a MA in Education from Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma. She presently lives in the northeastern USA.