Emerging Black Women Artists to Watch in 2025
Kathia St. Hilaire — United States (Haitian ancestry)
Medium: Painting, printmaking, textile, collage
Based in South Florida and a recent Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Hilaire weaves Haitian Vodou influences, quilt-making motifs, and Caribbean histories into layered, politically resonant works. She also created a major public mural in Miami (2022) and received the Jorge M. Pérez Award. Grazia+1galleryrevieweurope.com+1Wikipedia
Qualeasha Wood — United States
Medium: Textile, digital embroidery
Her digitally inspired tapestries explore Black womanhood through internet iconography and pop culture. At just 25, her work was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and gained broader acclaim through major exhibitions. Wikipedia+1The Collective+1
April Bey — Bahamas / United States
Medium: Mixed media, collage, installation
Bey’s immersive practice uses resin, caulking, wood, and photographic collages to highlight Black women’s resilience and cultural stereotypes. Her museum solo Atlantica, The Gilda Region opened at CAAM in 2021. Wikipedia
Sola Olulode — United Kingdom / Nigerian descent
Medium: Expressionist painting
Olulode’s dreamlike canvases depict Black queer intimacy, feminine presence, and emotional landscapes through abstracted forms and romantic color palettes. Wallpaper*+10Hypebae+10Grazia+10
Esmaa Mohamoud — Canada
Medium: Sculpture & installation
Mohamoud reframes sports paraphernalia—basketballs, cleats, etc.—as political sculptures confronting ideas of masculinity and race. Her wearable sculptures merge beauty and activism. Grazia
Lina Iris Viktor — UK / Liberia
Medium: Painting, gilded multimedia
Fusing Afrofuturism with historical allegory, Viktor layers 24-karat gold onto dark canvases in bold patterns. Her work interrogates Black visuality and myth with regal symbolism. Wikipedia
Sungi Mlengeya — Tanzania
Medium: Minimalist portrait painting
Self-taught, she paints abstracted Black female forms in negative space—often stripped down yet deeply expressive. Her solo Just Disruptions premiered in East Africa. Grazia+15Wikipedia+15artorigin.com+15
Rehema Chachage — Tanzania
Medium: Multimedia: performance, photography, installation
Chachage investigates Swahili matrilineal stories, combining ritual, text, and video installations to evoke ancestral identities across generations. omenai.net+2Wikipedia+2The Collective+2
Coumba Samba — Senegal / U.S.
Medium: Sculpture & performance
Samba merges installation and live art to explore diasporic overlap, identity politics, and material culture, with upcoming institutional shows in Germany and Switzerland. omenai.net
Ebun Sodipo — UK / Nigeria
Medium: Assemblage, film, performance, sculpture
Sodipo channels Black transfeminine narratives through evocative multimedia practice, using poetic archives to challenge historical invisibility and identity archives. omenai.net
Agnes Waruguru — Kenya
Medium: Painting, sculpture, needlework, installation
Waruguru creates emotional landscapes rooted in belonging and ancestral memory, shown at the Venice Biennale 2024 and celebrated for her intimate materiality. omenai.net
Deborah Segun — Nigeria
Medium: Fragmented portraiture, painting
Segun’s stylized compositions blend Cubism and abstraction to explore femininity with rhythmic planes of vibrant color. Featured at London’s Maddox Gallery, her visibility is rapidly expanding. Maddox Gallery
Tschabalala Self — United States
Medium: Mixed media: painting, collage, textiles
Using layered fabrics and figurative forms, Self explores Black female selfhood with vibrant textures and expressive scale. Her 2025 solo at the Studio Museum in Harlem draws widespread acclaim. Wikipedia+15Fincult Finance & Culture+15Maddox Gallery+15
Summary Table
| Artist | Origin | Medium |
|---|---|---|
| Kathia St. Hilaire | USA (Haitian) | Paint, print, textile, collage |
| Qualeasha Wood | USA | Digital tapestries |
| April Bey | Bahamas / USA | Mixed media, collage, installation |
| Sola Olulode | UK (Nigerian) | Abstract painting |
| Esmaa Mohamoud | Canada | Sculpture & wearable installation |
| Lina Iris Viktor | UK / Liberia | Gilded painting, multimedia |
| Sungi Mlengeya | Tanzania | Minimalist portraits |
| Rehema Chachage | Tanzania | Performance, photo, installation |
| Coumba Samba | Senegal / USA | Sculpture & performance |
| Ebun Sodipo | UK / Nigeria | Mixed media, film, assemblage |
| Agnes Waruguru | Kenya | Painting, sculpture, textile |
| Deborah Segun | Nigeria | Abstraction & portraits |
| Tschabalala Self | USA | Mixed media, textiles, painting |
