Themba Nhlapo’s work explores nostalgia, memory, and identity through painting, collage, and assemblage. After completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria (2023), Nhlapo developed a practice that examines how objects – family photos, drawings, or heirlooms – carry the emotional weight of Black queer experience. Their recent series, created after returning to their childhood home, evokes the innocence and joy of youth through naïve drawings and symbolic motifs like the red speckled bean. Blending personal history with collective memory, Nhlapo’s art transforms ordinary materials into poetic meditations on resilience, belonging, and the fluidity of self.