BIO
Masela Nkolo is a Congolese-born artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans installation, sculpture, textiles, photography, video and performance. By reclaiming discarded materials such as oil lanterns, screwdrivers, and doors, Nkolo creates totemic figures that reflect his personal experiences, offering a syncretic reinterpretation of classical African art.
His work serves as a powerful advocate for peace, social justice, and healing. Through his creations, Nkolo fosters dialogue on themes of resilience, cultural memory, and the enduring human spirit. He invites audiences to engage with these themes, encouraging connections that transcend boundaries and promote understanding.
Nkolo holds a degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in large-scale sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts. He emerged as a prominent voice within the Kinshasa-based art movement “Neo-Ngongism,” a collective initiative aimed at awakening public consciousness through street exhibitions and community-based artistic interventions.
His work has been exhibited at numerous prestigious institutions, including The Mint Museum (NC) johnson Lowe Gallery (GA), Agora Gallery (NY), Atlanta Contemporary (GA), Path Museum (GA), the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
STATEMENT
My artistic practice, firmly multidisciplinary, encompasses installation, sculpture, textiles, sound, video, and performance. It is grounded in a deep commitment to reexamining Kongo histories, practices, and cultural memory as a pathway toward the reconstruction and resilience of my identity,
By deconstructing and reassembling objects imbued with memory and meaning such as oil lanterns I repaired for my community during the difficult times of war and power shortages I transform them into witnesses of human experiences and collective narratives, into signs of resistance and survival. Over time, these utilitarian objects become sources of inspiration, metamorphosing into symbolic creatures that embody complex emotions, cultural histories, and shared memories.
I create totemic sculptural forms that propose a contemporary and syncretic reinterpretation of classical African art, while affirming the vitality and richness of Congolese heritage.
A central element of my practice is the use of screwdrivers, inspired by a Kongo Yombe ritual called Bibaaku. This practice consists of driving nails or pieces of metal into a Nkisi, a sacred figure used to seal an agreement, ward off malevolent spirits, protect the community, or cure illnesses. The nails embedded in a Nkisi mark the number of times the sculpture has been ritually activated.
The screwdrivers I once carried as a child during the rise of urban banditry (kuluna) as a means of protection, are today reconfigured in my work. Detached from their original function as weapons, they acquire new aesthetic, philosophical, emotional, and pedagogical dimensions. Like the nails of the Nkisi, they become positive activations, transforming symbols of fear and violence into instruments of healing, protection, and collective strength.
My creations invite a renewed appreciation of self and offer a way to relearn how to celebrate ourselves. I hope they can be, for some, a source of enthusiasm, and for others, an escape into new forms of imagination and shared memory.