Collen Nyanhongo’s homeland is Zimbabwe, which means “large house of stone.” He is a member of the most significant family of artists in Zimbabwe and learned the craft of using simple hand tools to sculpt his stones from his father, Claude Nyanhongo, a first-generation artist who helped create the Zimbabwe Sculpture Movement in the 1950’s and 60’s. The Zimbabwe Sculpture Movement is heralded as the most prominent art form to emerge from Africa in the 20th century.

Forging his own vision from his powerful artistic roots, Collen Nyanhongo blends traditional figurative form into metaphorical abstract expression that transcends his past and establishes him as an eminent world artist whose work has been honored in Zimbabwe, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Holland, England, Switzerland, Germany, South Africa, and the United States.

Collen sculpts in all sizes, from a 15-ton marble stone for a public art project in Fort Collins, Colorado to smaller pieces that demand to be held and caressed. He prefers working with hard stones like Springstone, Serpentine, and Lepidolite and ships them in from Zimbabwe quarries to wherever he is living and working.

He is a bridge maker whose sculptures fracture the barriers of language and culture and sing to us in a universal language of human emotion and experience. Honoring simplicity and directness in his life and his art, his work compels the viewer to dismantle the trivial and contemplate the vitality of the human spirit.

Collen Nyanhongo is available for workshops, teaching sessions, commissions, sculpture gardens, and exhibitions worldwide.  His home is in Zimbabwe but he travels throughout Europe and the United States for art shows and gallery events.