Melisa Kayowa kazadi

Melisa Kayowa is a visual artist and weaver born in 1998 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She lives and works in Kinshasa. In 2022, she obtained her bachelor's degree (Bac +5) in graphic arts from the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa. From November to December 2024, she was in artistic mentorship residency at BlackRock Senegal, a program that aims to create a space for artistic and professional development and cross-cultural collaboration between emerging artists and established international mentors.   Over the course of her career, a plethora of artists and directors have worked with her as holding and space designer on artistic projects.
Absence, lack, fear and death express her deepest emotions through her weaving.  
Her artistic work encompasses weaving, embroidery, installation, architecture, video and photography. For her, this diversity of mediums represents the workings of the mind. However, socio-cultural aspects such as custom and modernity are confronted in her work, resulting in works with a “tradimodern” dimension. Her weaving practice is defined by the representation of the mechanisms of the mind, and formally, she integrates two very different types of expression: geometric abstraction and figuration. Her abstract works are the product of a second state, during which the subconscious visually materializes on canvas. When weaving, she seeks the total spontaneity of creation through the creative force of the unconscious. As for her figurative creations, they are first and foremost the disinterested play of thought that constitutes these dreams. Her approach is inspired by her life, which draws on the unconscious and dreams to create her colorful, poetic works. Her work is based on the transcription of her dreams, from which she creates several sketches that are used to create her works. In addition to exploring her own subconscious, she observes the people around her. The unconscious manifestations present in their stories were the source of inspiration.