Nanci Amaka is an interdisciplinary artist exploring ideas surrounding trauma, ancestry, memory and West African animism. Working from the theory that traumatic events challenge perceptions of power, autonomy, and identity; her work explores the liminal space between these experiences and language. Nanci received a BFA/BA in Visual Critical Studies from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from California College of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited at International Center for Photography, New York, NY; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Honolulu Museum of Art’s Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu, HI; Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA; Hawai‘i State Art Museum x Mori, Honolulu, HI; Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, HI; Bermudez Projects NELA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Root Division, San Francisco, CA; and most recently, Above The Equator Gallery, Hilo, HI.
Amaka was born in Nigeria and spent her formative years in a rural rainforest village in south eastern Nigeria. She now lives and works in Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
SELECT EXHIBITIONS & RESIDENCIES
2021
UPCOMING: Fresh Winds - International Arts Biennale, Suðurnesjabær Iceland
Island Hopper, Above The Equator Gallery & Arts and Letters, Honolulu, HI
Art In The Atrium, Nā Lama Kukui Design Center + Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Honolulu, HI
‘Cleanse’ Screening & Artist Talk, Above The Equator Gallery + Arts and Letters, Honolulu, HI
Not Alone, Above The Equator Gallery, Hilo, HI
2020
Family Matters, Root Division Virtual Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Ije|Eze Screening & Artist Talk, Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
2019
Ije|Eze, Bermudez Projects NELA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
iBiennale 2019, Y-Center for Visual Arts, Honolulu, HI
2018
Children’s Museum Of Art Annual Auction, Children’s Museum of Art, New York, NY
CONTACT ZONE, as Stargaze Collective, Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, HI
Art In Time, Hawaii State Art Museum x Mori, Honolulu, HI
Suspended Dysbeliefs, Moon Huts, Los Angeles, CA
Quintessence, Five Years of Bevy Murals, as Stargaze Collective, Bevy + SALT, Honolulu, HI
MOTHER, BoxJelly + fishcake, Honolulu, HI
2017
Resident Artist, BoxJelly + fishcake, Honolulu, HI
Cleanse, Aupuni Place, Ward Warehouse, Honolulu, HI
Huki Pau, Na Mea Hawai’i, Honolulu, HI
DRIFT, as Stargaze Collective, Bevy, Honolulu, HI
The Endangered Ark, Ark of the Unicorns Gallery, Honolulu, HI
Witness | From Shadows, Arts At Mark’s Garage, Honolulu, HI
Residue, Ark of the Unicorns Gallery, Honolulu, HI
2016
Hawai’i Craftsmen 49th Annual Statewide Juried Exhibition, Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, HI
Selfscape / Porous Enclosure, “Spaceland III | Aftermath”, Bermudez Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Santa Cruz Scars, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA
Between Worlds, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015
Nanci Amaka | Beast, Bermudez Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Touch Me, Niehoff Urban Studio, Cincinnati, OH
Tell Me, Harvest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Whispered Secrets, Center for Sex & Culture, San Francisco, CA
2012
Fatima, International Center for Photography, New York, NY
2011
Strangers’s Scars, In collaboration with Levi's© , Levi’s Pop Up Shop, San Francisco, CA.
2010
Sethe’s Back, California College of the Arts MFA Exhibit, San Francisco, CA
Anarcha, California College of the Arts MFA Exhibit, San Francisco, CA
2009
The Debate, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Post Colonial Infants, Playspace Gallery, California College of Arts, San Francisco, CA.
Three Women, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Most Precious, Galleri BOB, Bergsjøn, Sweden
Rafflesia River, Playspace Gallery, California College of Arts, San Francisco, CA.
2008
Onyebuchi, Playspace Gallery, California College of Arts, San Francisco, CA
Grace, Lollapalooza© Music Festival, Grant Park, Chicago, IL
Refugee Nation, “Black Harvest Film Festival”, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL
Refugee Nation, School of Art Institute of Chicago BFA Exhibit, Chicago, IL
2007
Bread & Roses, Venus Collective, Chicago, IL
Waste Stream Diversions, The Heartbeat SWAP + School of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
SELECT PRESENTATIONS & PROJECTS
2020
Family Matters Exhibit Artist Talk, Zoom Call, Hosted by Root Division
Animism in 30 Americans, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
Diversity & Equity Professional Development Lecture, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
2019
UCLA Department of Art Lecture Presentation & Student Critiques, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Creative Mornings Honolulu, Honolulu, HI
Nexus Screening Artist Talk Host, Honolulu Biennial, Honolulu, HI
iBiennale | Nanci Amaka Artist Presentation, Y-Center for Visual Arts, Honolulu, HI
2018
Immigration Through A Creative Lens, Honolulu Theatre Center, Honolulu, HI
Art Activism & Advocacy, Honolulu Museum Of Art, Spalding House, Honolulu, HI
Spatial Dysplasia, BoxJelly x The Company, Honolulu, HI
2017
Artists in Conversation: Stargaze Collective, BoxJelly, Honolulu, HI
Visible & Invisible Scars, Marin Country Day School (K-12th Graders), Corte Madera, CA
Redefining Scars, Gamma Phi Beta Hawaii Alumnae Chapter (Post-Graduate Course), Aiea, HI
Artist / Life: Intersecting Identities In The Art World, Honolulu Biennial, Honolulu, HI
Oil & Water Drop Project, Kaka’ako Agora, Honolulu, HI
2016
Santa Cruz Scar Stories Performance & Lecture, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA
2012
Fatima | The Enlightenment of Re-Remembering, “Memories Can’t Wait Symposium”, International Center for Photography, New York, NY
2010
Nanci Amaka | The Grotesque Body & Humor, (Lecturer) California College of The Arts, San Francisco, CA
Nanci Amaka | Art of Crossing the Street, (Lecturer) School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
SELECT AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
2018 CONTACT ZONE Hawai`i 2018 Artist Grant, as Stargaze Collective
2018 Maunakea Integrated Solutions Artist Screen Grant
2018 Bishop Museum Specimen Grant
2014 MANA Media Fellowship for Ark Of The Unicorns
2017 Pow!Wow! Hawai`i Grant for Oil & Water Drop Project
2016 Santa Cruz Museum Of Art & History Resident Grant
2009 The Grad{E} California College of The Arts Writers’ Grant
2009 California College of Arts; Department of Visual Critical Studies Teaching Assistantship Award
2008 Black Harvest Film Festival Artist Fellowship
2006 & 2007 School Of The Art Institute of Chicago Student Leadership Grant
2005 to 2007 Archibald Motely Fund Artist Award