Moses Nyanhongo

(b. 1981, Nyanga, Africa)

     “The rural forest landscape from my early years has a strong influence on my work, my vision.”

      Moses took up sculpture after watching his father (prominent first generation sculptor Claud Nyanhongo) turn boulders into beautiful works of art at their rural home in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.  Moses first worked as an assistant to his father, gaining experience and confidence along the way.  Soon sculpting became his passion, consuming all his free time and school holidays, as he honed his skills.

     Born in 1981, Moses spent most of his early years living and working in Nyanga with his father.  In 1999, he left his rural home and moved to Harare to join his artist siblings - internationally acclaimed sculptors Agnes, Gedion, Wellington and Euwitt.  “That is the time I began to work seriously.  I had the opportunity to see them work every day and the inspiration grew big from there.”

     His inspiration is drawn primarily from both his early rural upbringing.  “The rural forest landscape from my early years has a strong influence on my work, my vision.”  He is also moved by the human figure, and the day-to-day interactions and communications of the people around him.

     “What’s most interesting with my work is its quality to be easily understood by viewers.  In my finishing details, I want to have contrast and texture as my trademark style.  The combination of dark and light colors, polished and unpolished parts of my sculpture.  These are things I feel convey a powerful, differentiating style in my work.”

     While greatly admiring the work of his siblings Gedion & Agnes Nyanhongo, Moses feels that an artist must find their own path from an early age.  “You have to set your own creative standards and define your own approach early to survive in art.”

     Moses has exhibited his work in the United States, Germany, Holland, South Africa and the United Kingdom.  He continues to live and work in Harare, still filling all his free time pursuing his passion for sculpting.

     Jones & Terwilliger Galleries proudly represent Moses Nyanhongo is southern California.