Art for Ukraine

The source materials for Esther Donaldson Nyandwi’s work are a medley of social media content and her own family albums, which allow her to create unique images of friends, fashion models, relatives, sometimes even self-portraits. Esther is particularly drawn to the figure of the refugee, her depictions of which are informed by her husband’s own experience living as a refugee in Kenya for 10 years. The faces in Donaldson-Nyandwi’s portraits are often cropped to all traces of the person’s own background or history. This compositional choice, Esther believes, creates equality amongst her figures and enables their desired narrative to be portrayed.

Esther Donaldson Nyandwi has a BA (Hons) from the Edinburgh College of Art. She was recently awarded in 2022 with the Winsor Newton Award from the Royal Watercolour Society based in London. Esther also  won the Arts and Craft Markers Award from East Lothian Council in both 2022 and 2021. Esther has exhibited in both London and Edinburgh and most notably was on the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions Favourites List in 2019.

https://estherdonaldson.com/
@estherdonaldsonart