Senga Nengudi

Photo by Bruce Clayton Tom

Senga Nengudi (she/her) was interested in the visual arts, dance, body mechanics, and matters of the spirit from an early age. These elements still play themselves out in ever-changing ways in her art. She has always used a variety of natural (sand, dirt, rocks, seed pods) and unconventional (pantyhose, found objects, masking tape) materials to fashion her works, utilizing these materials as a jazz musician utilizes notes and sounds to improvise a composition. The thrust of her art is to share common experiences in abstractions that hit the senses and center, often welcoming the viewer to become a participant. Formerly teaching at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in the Visual Arts and Performing Arts Department, Nengudi has always been involved with bringing arts programs emphasizing diversity to the communities in which she resides. Winner of the 2023 Nasher Prize for Sculpture, she is in the permanent collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg, PA; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Dia Art Foundation, New York, New York; Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado; Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York; and others.