Zaire is currently open to commissions. Want to work together lets connect!
That Zaire
My work explores the surreal nature of Blackness within the American South; particularly the psychological, historical, and emotional contradictions that shape Black life in the region. I am interested in the tension between visibility and erasure, humanity and performance, memory and myth. Through portraiture, collage, and layered visual narratives, I examine what it means to exist inside a history that is constantly present yet routinely denied.
Growing up in the South, I became aware of how Black existence is often treated as both hypervisible and invisible at the same time. Black culture is celebrated, consumed, and imitated, while Black people themselves are frequently denied complexity, vulnerability, and individuality. That contradiction feels surreal to me. It creates a world where survival requires performance, where identity becomes fragmented between lived experience and imposed expectation.
My practice is deeply informed by Black history, Southern Black experiences, slave narratives, family memory, and the emotional residue left behind by systemic violence. I am particularly drawn to portraiture because of its historical relationship to power, dignity, and recognition. In my work, portraits become sites of confrontation and reclamation; spaces where Black figures are allowed interiority, stillness, softness, grief, and ambiguity.
Collage plays a significant role in my process. I use fragmentation as both a formal and conceptual device, reflecting the fractured nature of memory and identity within Black life in America. By layering imagery, obscuring forms, and reconstructing bodies and environments, I attempt to visualize the instability of history and the surreal condition of navigating inherited trauma while still seeking beauty, intimacy, and hope.
I often work with restrained or minimal color palettes, allowing texture, shadow, and composition to carry emotional weight. This restraint mirrors the emotional tension within the work itself quiet, but unresolved. My figures frequently exist in suspended or dreamlike spaces that blur the line between reality and psychological landscape. These spaces are not escapist; they are reflections of the strange and disorienting experience of being Black in a society that simultaneously depends on Blackness and distances itself from it.
Ultimately, my work asks viewers to confront the humanity within Black experience beyond stereotype, spectacle, or consumption. I see art as both testimony and survival: a way to preserve memory, reclaim agency, and create space for emotional truths that are often ignored. By exploring the surreal dimensions of Black Southern life, I aim to create work that feels intimate, unsettling, and deeply human.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2019–2024
BFA in Studio Art
Full CV Available upon request
Conc. Printmaking and Drawing
Minor(s) Arts Administration, Business, and Entrepreneurship
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Residencies
2025- Jan 2026
NC Emerging Artist Residency, Artspace. Raleigh, NC
Solo Exhibitions
(Upcoming) 2027 The Analog and The Profane, Proxy Gallery, Greensboro, NC
(Upcoming) 2027 In Rotations, Barton College, Wilson, NC
(Upcoming) 2027 Artspace Solo Show, Artspace Raleigh
2025 This Black feeling, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2023 GPS Second Stop: The Lion, The Jackal, and The Man, touring the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
2022 The Lion, The Jackal, and the Man, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
Select Group/Duo Exhibitions
2026 Awakening, Proxy Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2026 Relics: Ancient to Modern, Pelham, NY
2026 Delta National Small Print Exhibition (DNSPE), Bradbury Art Museum, Arkansas State University, Ar
2026 15th Annual International Juried Exhibition-Belonging, UNCP, Pembroke,NC
2026 A State of Printmaking , The Wellington B. Gray Gallery, ECU, Greenville NC
2026 Black Expression, Holly Springs Cultural Center, Holly Springs, NC
2025 Continuum, Ella West Gallery, Durham, NC
2025 Tiny Handshakes, Irving Part Art&Frame, Greensboro, NC
2025 Studio Artist Showcase, Artspace, Raleigh NC
2025 NC Artists Exhibition, CAM Raleigh, Raleigh NC
2025 Artgivers, Freedom House, Chapel Hill, NC
2025 MAEVE Artwalk, Maeve Apartments Apartments, Raleigh NC
2025 Carolina Art Show, Wilmington, NC
2025 NCMA Gift Shop, Raleigh, NC
2025 Artist Open House, Natural Science Bar, Raleigh, NC
2025 Black & White 2025, KBM Art Gallery
2025 The Art Gallery at Congdon Yards Gala, High Point, NC
2025 Artsfield Art Fair & Competition, Lake City, SC
2025 Periphery: Screen Printing Exhibition at Louisburg College, Louisburg, NC
2025 Weird Production F*ck Up Night Raleigh, Raleigh,
2025 NC Big works, Small WorksCommunity Show 2025, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2025 GPS Second Stop: Royal Flush, UNCG, Greensboro, NC
2024 Small Works Show, Main street Art, Clifton Springs, NY
2024 UNCG BFA & BA Winter Exhibition, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2024 Portraits of the Triad, Steven Tanger Center, Greensboro, NC
2024 Piece X Peace, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2024 Royal Flush, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2024 Big Black Prints, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2024 Greenhill’s 2024 Winter Show, Greenhill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC Contemporary Art Museum 2024 Raleigh Emerging Artist Exhibition, Raleigh, NC
2024 Compost Collab, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2024 Worlds Collide. Vol 2, One Rep Gym, Greensboro, NC
2024 Gate City Gallery Black History Month Exhibition, Greensboro, NC
2024 UNCG Spring 2024 BFA Exhibition, Gatewood Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2023 Off the Rack: Printmaking & Drawing Show, Greensboro Project Space Greensboro, NC
2023 The Printmakers Left, curated by Christopher Thomas, collaborative drawing with Quan Apollo and Jac McGinty, Gatewood Gallery Greensboro, NC
2023 Thomas Undergraduate Research and Creativity Expo Arts Exhibit, Elliott University
Center, Greensboro, NC
2023 Carbonado Black Diamond Black History Month Exhibition, The Sebrof Forbes Cultural Arts Center, Kensington, MD
2023 Worlds Collide, One Rep Weightlifting, Greensboro, NC
2023 The Warmth of Conversation, Bain Art Lounge at Transform GSO, Greensboro, NC
2023 30 for 30, African American Atelier, Greensboro, NC
2023 AXA Art Prize 2023 Finalist, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2023 Encroachment, Collaborative dance and printmaking event, Greensboro, NC
2023 Small Works Exhibition curated by Quan Apollo and Sarah Smith, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
2023 Upscale, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
Workshops
Introduction to Collage and Zine Making, SO & SO Books, Raleigh NC
Introduction to Printmaking: Block Printing Adult workshop, North Carolina Museum of the Arts, Raleigh, NC
Introduction to Printmaking: Block Printing Teen workshop, North Carolina Museum of the Arts, Raleigh, NC
NC Emerging Artist Printmaking Demo Sponsored by Speedball, Artspace, Raleigh, NC
Permanent Collections
Bradbury Art Museum, Arkansas State University, Ar
