In his practice, he is interested in the ways ritual, memory, language, and history intersect with art-making processes that prioritizes the use of previously used materials, the body, and play; through the lens of Blackness.
Nyugen E. Smith is a Caribbean-American interdisciplinary artist based in Jersey City, NJ, USA, primarily working in the areas of mixed media drawing, found object sculpture, and performance. In his practice, he is interested in the ways ritual, memory, language, and history intersect with art-making processes that prioritizes the use of previously used materials, the body, and play; through the lens of Blackness. The use of discarded materials and objects is prevalent in Smith's work. The process of walking and observing in order to find, teaches him about spaces, landscapes, and people who traverse them. Nyugen holds a BA, Fine Art from Seton Hall University and an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been presented at the Museum of Latin American Art, Peréz Art Museum, Museum of Cultural History, Norway, Nordic Black Theater, Norway, Newark Museum, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, among others. Nyugen is the recipient of the Creative Capital Award, Leonore Annenberg Performing and Visual Arts Fund, Franklin Furnace Fund, Dr. Doris Derby Award, New Jersey State Council on the Arts grant, and Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant.