A communion of the earthly and the spiritual.
Biography
Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi (b. 1992, Zimbabwe) Growing up, Option drew from his imagination, showing an interest in art from an early age. Raised in Rusape and now working from the studio he built in Goromonzi - Studio Shavi, he is known for his ethereal figures and forms that undulate in dreamlike movement before the viewer. He graduated with a Certificate in Visual Arts and Design from Harare Polytechnic College in association with the National Gallery School of Visual Arts and Design in 2015, the same year he took first prize in Graphics at Gallery Delta, Harare, for Homeless Migrants.
With a nod to post-impressionism and surrealism, Nyahunzvi has developed a unique fluidity of form reminiscent of these epochs of art history. He is a 2026 Civitella Fellow, recipient of the Tyburn Foundation Affiliated Fellowship at Civitella Ranieri in Umbria. Notable Civitella fellows include El Anatsui (Venice Biennale Golden Lion 2015), Kerry James Marshall and Esperanza Spalding. 2026 saw the opening of his critically acclaimed solo at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Zvatiri, which explores timeless identity, privileged to be the only solo at the National Gallery for 2026.
Option has participated in group exhibitions, solos and art fairs globally, including 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair (New York, 2023, London 2015), Art on Paper (Amsterdam, 2023), the Tropen Museum (Amsterdam, 2021) a solo show at Unit London in Mayfair (2021) a sold out solo show at Wunika Mukan Gallery (Lagos, 2022).
Residencies include Africa 1:1 in Venice (2023), the Yawoa Foundation cultural exchange in Lagos (2022) and Nafasi Art Space in Tanzania (2019).
Option Nyahunzvi in Studio Shavi
"All authentic individuals live as part of a wider, more significant communal, societal, environmental and spiritual world."
Option Nyahunzvi, 2026
Post-Impressionism & Zimbabwean Art
When first approaching Nyahunzvi's paintings, one is arrested by his expressive visual language in a striking communion of the earthly and the spiritual. His mixed-media technique of layering paper onto canvas results in almost fingerprint like contours while ridges of pigment swirl across the background and onto the faces of his figures. The visible etching lines in his canvases echo the vibrant patches of colour that flutter across the surface of van Gogh's The Sower. Like van Gogh, his palette does not necessarily recall reality — it strives to mirror the immaterial effects of mood and atmosphere, capturing not simply a likeness but a state of mind.
Closer to home, Nyahunzvi cites fellow Zimbabwean Gareth Nyandoro, whose large-scale works on paper share the layering and cut-out techniques. Both artists draw chiefly from their Zimbabwean roots, exploring the vast cultural panorama of the country's landscapes and urban environments.
Beneath his practice runs the philosophy of Ubuntu — a belief in the universal bond that connects humanity to its roots, and the conviction that to make an authentic human being is to live in relation: to community, to environment, to the spiritual world.
Text adapted from essays published by Unit London and the Tyburn Foundation.