Artist Statement

ARTIST BIO

Riziki Chabeda was born to a Nigerian mother and a Kenyan father. Due to her parents’ contrasting cultural backgrounds, Riziki questioned the culture around her. After an encounter when her peers had told her they could speak to her because she was black, she began to process her emotions through drawing, driving her passion for creating art that heals. She is an emerging artist looking to achieve this goal. As a Ron Brown Scholar, she met Raymund Flandez, a senior communications officer at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, and sought out curatorial opportunities. She is a co-curator of the Duke University Nasher Museum exhibition: pov: in my nasher teen era (2024), an exhibition centered on valuing perspective from different identities. She posits this sentiment within her greater work, utilizing contrasting mediums, visual elements, and themes to encourage healing through connection and understanding. Her work has been displayed at the Road Ahead by The RIVAA Gallery (2024), the For the Record showcase by the Emerge Gallery, and the Atrium Gallery exhibition by the McColl Center. Through curatorial work and exhibitions, Riziki hopes to cultivate a space for artistic healing during her undergraduate studies.