painting the town blue

Known for her hyper realistic, blue faced street art, Artist Zina is a London-based Norwegian artist and illustrator who’s on a mission to battle the Morgellons disease.

Self taught and all about the urban scene, Zina takes to the large street walls and paints gigantic blue portraits of people from different ethnicities. Her work stems from the Po-surrealist movement that uses bold colors, symbolism, decorative elements and motifs from rustic steampunk. Moved by her love of music and dedication to friendship, her art is a personal anecdote of her friend’s journey.

Laura Cherry was diagnosed with the Morgellons Disease; a condition characterized by maladaptive thoughts, disrupted cognitive abilities and intense sensations felt on the skin. Her blue portraits have taken inspiration from the color the skin takes when diagnosed with the disease.

Using her trusted spray paint and gigantic canvas, the city, Artist Zina paints bold stories. Women with red eyes, red lips and androgynous features – her paintings are somewhat reminiscent of the old Dracula tales— a being misunderstood because of his differences and penchant for things out of the ordinary.

Zina also dabbles in media, working on televisions and radio, with reputable enterprises like the BBC Radio, and interviewing renowned authors like Chinua Achebe. She also produced films exploring the African narrative in London and her masterpiece This Is My Africa has been featured at various film festivals. She also traveled to Lagos to make alt-Nollywood films; her famous experimental films about a psychic vampire, a child witch, and spirituality have made waves in exploring the human psyche and social narrative.

ZIna also loves to produce video art. Using the platform, she explores emotional landscapes; in 2011, she used video installation to confront her inability to mourn her father’s death. Zina is definitely a jack of all trades – she’s worked on music videos and has even been commissioned to write essays that explore the Nollywood industry. She has also produced short stories and her excerpts are exhibited in renowned galleries.

Super cool, vivacious and very dynamic, Artist Zina is definitely a one-woman show worth seeing.