Onajide Shabaka

Onajide Shabaka

My interest in art began in high school with a photography course that eventually allowed me creative license to photograph what I wanted. That interest continued through various post-secondary institutions, including: Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA.), and California College of the Arts (Oakland, CA), culminating in a MFA awarded from Vermont College of the Fine Arts (Montpelier, VT), an institution focused on self-designed courses of study.

While living in San Francisco, California I started a fashion boutique where I designed for both men and women, importing cloth from various countries to find the right mix of natural and hand-woven fabrics. My longtime interest in ethnic textiles continues to inform my art practice.

In the past ten years, or more, my practice has included art writing and independent curatorial work, both of which are important aspects of my art practice. With a broad-based knowledge in contemporary art history, critical theory, as well as anthropology and ethnobotany, my art practice is focused on its continuing development and challenges, both inside and outside the white cubic exhibition space.

See more: www.onajide.com