Known for her joyful, defiant and searingly honest artworks, Everlyn Nicodemus‘ new exhibition at National Galleries Scotland’s Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) features over 80 drawings, collages, paintings and textiles from the last 40 years of her career through to the present day. This will include a series of new artworks created especially for the exhibition, which Everlyn will unveil following her 25-year break from painting.

Everlyn’s work betrays a belief that creativity is a form of healing, in its bold and courageous use of colour, form, light and shade, inviting the viewer to explore questions surrounding identity, belonging and faith. Everlyn received the prestigious Freelands Award in 2022 – given in support of women artists underrepresented in their field.

Born in Marangu, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania in 1954, Everlyn has worked as an artist, writer and curator, living and working across Europe since the mid-1970s, and making Edinburgh her home for the last fifteen years, taking an active involvement in community life; she uses her gift of expression to highlight the shared oppression of women, using her pioneering scholarship on African modern art, alongside her study of trauma. She makes works in paint, collage and on paper, exploring violence against women, personal trauma and the isolation and dehumanisation of living within structural racism.

Admission is free and includes an audio tour as part of the experience, recorded by Everlyn, highlighting selected works and revealing some of her inspirations, experiences and her creative process.