Zimbabwean visual artist Roseline Marikasi continues to redefine contemporary African art through layered, meticulous works exploring womanhood, migration, identity and resilience.
Professionally known as Roselyne or Roselyn Marikasi, the veteran multidisciplinary artist has built a distinguished career spanning more than three decades across painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, illustration and mixed media.
Her work has earned recognition locally and internationally for its textured compositions and socially conscious storytelling.
Born in Zimbabwe in 1977, Marikasi emerged as part of a generation of artists using visual expression to confront social realities affecting women and marginalised communities.
Through symbolic imagery and personal narratives, her art reflects themes of emotional healing, displacement, belonging and the everyday struggles of African women navigating social and economic pressures.
Marikasi studied Fine Art at Harare Polytechnic before obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northern Kentucky University in the United States. She later pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Cincinnati.
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Beyond studio practice, she has played an important role in arts education and mentorship. Marikasi serves as a senior art instructor at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe School of Visual Arts and Design, where she mentors emerging creatives in studio practice, art history and visual communication.
Her artistic journey includes teaching engagements and collaborative programmes in Zimbabwe and the United States, including work with the University of Cincinnati DAAP Galleries and community art initiatives in Kentucky.
Marikasi’s body of work reflects a deeply personal and experimental direction. She produces mixed-media paintings incorporating crocheted doilies, nails, wire, thread and stitched fabric layered onto canvas, drawing inspiration from family memory, spirituality and emotional endurance.
“Currently, I am working on paintings that incorporate doilies and other three-dimensional elements like nails, wire and stitching. I was inspired to include doilies because crocheting was my mother’s passion,” she told NewsDay Life & Style.
“She taught me how to crochet, so in some of my pieces I include doilies that I crocheted myself and some that she made.”
One of her recent works, Keys My Destiny, uses a crocheted star suspended with thread and nails to symbolise spiritual warfare, perseverance and the pursuit of purpose.
“There is a belief that everyone has a star and our star represents destiny. The keys symbolise unlocking one’s destiny through effort, prayer and commitment,” she said.
Another piece, Turmoil, created during the COVID-19 pandemic, explores themes of isolation, confinement and loss through fabric, thread and paint on canvas.
Art, she says, continues to play a transformative role in empowering women by providing a platform for self-expression, healing and economic participation.
Female visual artists such as Marikasi are helping amplify women’s voices in contemporary African storytelling while inspiring younger generations to embrace creativity as both cultural preservation and professional opportunity.
Marikasi has exhibited at institutions including the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the United Nations Building in New York, Diggs Gallery and the Ann Arbor Arts Center.
Her work continues to bridge personal memory with broader social commentary, positioning her among Zimbabwe’s influential contemporary female visual artists.