
As a sculptural fiber artist, Virginia-based Nastassja Swift is redefining her use of portraiture through wool to create soft sculptures that speak to spirituality, history and place in relation to the body. The artist constantly searches for ways to allow her practice to meet people where they are, and rethink how to make these stories more accessible to those who should see them. Her short film, and first collaborative performance, “Remembering Her Homecoming,” premiered at the Afrikana Independent Film Festival in Fall 2019, and screened at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville and Current Art Fair in Richmond.
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Exhibitions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
Canaan: when I read your letter, I feel your voice
Historical Hampton Courthouse, Hampton, VA2019
she was here, once
Lane Hall, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI2018
Hidden Underneath
Harmony Hall Arts Center, Fort Washington, MD2016
I Keep Repeating it Over & Over in My Head
VCU Qatar Gallery, Doha, Qatar2015
Conscious of Being Seen
Fine Arts Building, Richmond, VAGROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
“MAKING MARKS | Figural Identity, transfiguration, and receptive tactility”
Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA“Black Spirituals”
Eleanor and Hopps Gallery, The Contemporary Arts Network, Newport News, VA2020
The Benediction, Eleanor and Hopps,
The Contemporary Arts Network, Newport News, VAHello There
Quirk Gallery, Charlottesville, VA2019
Afrikana Independent Film Festival,
Richmond, VARemembering Her Homecoming
Solo Room Installation, Wa Na Wari, Seattle, WABreaching the Margins
Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI2018
InLight Richmond
1708 Gallery Exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA2017
Urgent Care, A Social Care Experience
The Colored Girls Museum, Philadelphia, PA -
Education
2015
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
B.F.A. Painting + Printmaking | Craft + Material Studies -
Collections
Contemporary Arts Network Collection, Newport News, VA
Quirk Hotel, Charlottesville, VA
Grace Linton Battle Memorial Collection, Washington DC
The Colored Girls Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar
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Awards
2021
Art as Activism Grant, Black Box Press FoundationGrace Linton Battle Project Seed Grant
2020
VMFA Artist Relief Fellowship, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, VAGrace Linton Battle Memorial Fund Acquisition Grant
Virginia Commission of the Arts Fellowship, VA
2018
Cultural Equity Focus Area Grant, Remembering Her Homecoming, Richmond CultureWorks, VA2016
MASS MoCA Partial Fellowship, MAFaculty Research Grant, An Exploration of Gender Roles in the Making of West African Textiles and Fiber Processes of the Region, VCU in Qatar
2015
Vermont Studio Center Full Fellowship, VT