Tschabalala Self

Tschabalala Self, an American artist, produces paintings, prints, sculptures, and animations that explore various themes, such as perceptions of the gendered and racialized body. Her portrayals of the body consist of shapes assembled through techniques like sewing, stitching, and printing, drawing on craft and art traditions. 

Biography of Tschabalala Self

Born in 1990 in Harlem, New York City, Tschabalala Self is the youngest of six children. She attended Nightingale-Bamford School in Manhattan and earned her BA from Bard College in 2012. Later, she obtained an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from the Yale School of Art. 

Self attributes her mother, who sewed as a hobby and directed a trade program at Bronx Community College, as a significant influence on her artistic approach, both formally and conceptually. Her use of textiles is tied to her exploration of Black female bodies, which, as she explained, encompass a range of hair textures, tones, and forms. In her recent work, Self has shifted from depicting solitary figures to pairing her "avatars," aiming to "define the boundaries of their personality and the extent of their community."

Self initiates her artwork with a line drawing of the character she intends to portray, then employs various objects to compose her collage, overlaying them onto the drawing. She uses shapes to construct her characters while highlighting objects or body parts that might draw immediate attention or carry a psychological or physical significance.

Urban life has been a central theme in Tschabalala Self's work, as demonstrated in her 2020 solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, titled "Out of Body." This exhibition showcased paintings and sculptures highlighting her distinctive "avatars," each depicting an imaginary resident of her hometown, Harlem. In her art, which primarily features female figures, Self conveys the "fantasies and attitudes surrounding the Black female body" — both embracing and challenging these perceptions — to portray "a body that is both exalted and abject."

Tschabalala Self's work has been exhibited at various institutions worldwide, such as the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Art Omi Ghent, Hammer Museum, Tramway in Glasgow, and the Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art in London. Additionally, Self received the Studio Museum AIR Residency in 2018 and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant in 2017. 

Tschabalala Self resides in New Haven, Connecticut.