EDUCATION

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Richmond, VA, May 2015

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting and Printmaking, Craft and Material Studies

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

“MAKING MARKS | Figural Identity, transfiguration, and receptive tactility”,

Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2021.

“Black Spirituals”, Eleanor and Hopps Gallery, The Contemporary Arts Network, Newport News, VA 2021.

“Primordial Emanations, that which is brought forth follows the womb”, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA 2020.

“Benediction”, Eleanor and Hopps Gallery, The Contemporary Arts Network, Newport News, VA 2020.

“Hello There”, Quirk Gallery, Charlottesville, VA 2020.

“Remembering Her Homecoming”, Short Film Screening, Afrikana Independent Film Festival, Richmond, VA, Enjoli Moon, Curator and Director, 2019.

“Remembering Her Homecoming”, Solo-room Installation, Wa Na Wari, Seattle, WA, Elishiba Johnson, Curator, 2019.

“Breaching the Margins”, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, Juana Williams, Curator, 2019.

“InLight Richmond”, Satellite 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA, Kimberli Gant, Juror,

2018.

“Urgent Care, A Social Care Experience”, The Colored Girls Museum, Philadelphia, PA, Michael Clemmons, Curator, 2017.

“Fiber National 2016”, Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA, Jennifer Lindsay, Curator, 2016.

“Considerably More”, Gallery 1010, Knoxville, TN, Jessica Gatlin, Curator, 2015.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

“Canaan: when I read your letter, I feel your voice”, Historical Hampton Courthouse, Hampton, VA 2021.

“she was here, once”, Lane Hall, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2019.

“Hidden Underneath”, Harmony Hall Arts Center, Fort Washington, MD, 2018.

“I Keep Repeating It Over and Over in My Head”, VCU Qatar Gallery, Doha, Qatar (catalog) 2016.

“Conscious of Being Seen”, Fine Arts Building, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 2015.

RESIDENCIES

Artist in Residence, SPACES, Cleveland, OH, 2021

First Patron Initiative, The Contemporary Arts Network, Newport News, VA, 2020

Creative in Residence, Children’s Museum of Richmond, Richmond, VA, 2019.

Artist in Residence, Open Merit Fellowship, Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency, Cuttyhunk, MA 2019.

Visiting Artist, Permanent Installation, Collegiate Lower School, Richmond, VA 2019.

Artist in Residence, Partial Fellowship Award, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA,

2016.

BFA Fellowship, Artist Residency, VCU Qatar, Doha, Qatar, 2015- 2016.

Artist in Residence, Full Fellowship Award, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT,2015.

TEACHING

Fine Art Teacher, Textiles, St. Christopher’s Lower Level School, Richmond, VA 2019- 2020.

Adjunct Faculty, Teen Summer Camp, Sculpture: Mask Making, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA 2019.

Intensive Workshop Instructor, Visual Arts Center, Richmond, VA, 2018 – present.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH + WORKSHOPS Fine Art Teacher, Textiles, St. Christopher’s Lower Level School, Richmond, VA

Youth Program Leader, ART180, Richmond, VA, 2020 – 2021.

Teen Leadership Mentoring Program, Mentor, ART180, Richmond, VA, 2018 – 2020.

Make Space, Felting Workshop, Visual Arts Center, Richmond, VA, 2018.

Sister Mentors, Felting Workshop and Artist Talk, Washington D.C, 2017.

ACADEMIC CONFERENCES

Selected Artist and Workshop Instructor, Felted Word: A Collaborative Artist Book, Tasmeem Doha Biennal Art and Design Conference, VCU Qatar, Doha, Qatar, March 13 – 15, 2019.

Panel Member, Women’s Agency, Women’s Empowerment Symposium –

Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of

Discrimination Against Women, Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, VA March 23, 2018.

Artist Lecture, Conscious of Being Seen, Global History of Black Girlhood

Conference, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, March 17-18, 2017.

GRANTS + RESEARCH

Art as Activism Grant Award, Black Box Press Foundation, 2021.

Grace Linton Battle Seed Grant, Washington DC, 2021.

VMFA Artist Relief Fellowship, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, VA, 2020

Grace Linton Battle Memorial Fund Acquisition Grant, Washington DC, 2020

Virginia Commission of the Arts Fellowship, Craft, VA, 2020.

Cultural Equity Focus Area Grant, Remembering Her Homecoming: An Exploration of the Black Female Body, From the North Atlantic to Leigh Street, Richmond Culture Works, 2018.

Faculty Research Grant, An Exploration of Gender Roles in the Making of West African Textiles, and Fiber Processes of the Region, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, 2016.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Grace Ebert, “Figurative Wool Sculptures by Nastassja Swift Explore the Memories and Narratives of Blackness.” Colossal, access date: April 13, 2021.

Laura Drummond, “A Shared Experience.” RVA Mag, access date: September 10, 2020.

Valerie D. Parker, “Wool Works.” Rhome Magazine, September 2020: 26. Print Jasmyne Keimig, “Finding a Home in Wa Na Wari.” the Stranger, access date: August 28 2019.

Elise Kim, “Walking to Remember.” Richmond Magazine, access date: August 24, 2018.

David Talton, “Encounters: An Interview with Mist Gallery.” Culture scene Magazine, access date: September 23, 2016.

Udayan Nag, “Is This Real.” T Qatar Magazine, June 2016: 27. Print.

Lezima Gomes, “Communicating Through Art,” Qatar Tribune, April 19, 2016: 02. Print.

COLLECTIONS

Contemporary Arts Network Collection, Newport News, VA

Quirk Hotel, Charlottesville, VA

Grace Linton Battle Memorial Collection, Washington DC

The Colored Girls Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Virginia Commonwealth University, Doha, Qatar