Afropean Artist Daphné Essiet

From abstraction to figurative work self-taught artist Daphné Mia Essiet embodies the multi-dimensionality crucial for any multi-disciplinary artist!

Expanding her visual arts practice from graphic design to painting, from abstraction to figurative work, and all the while keeping her love of language close whether in poetry or songwriting, self-taught artist Daphné Mia Essiet embodies the multi-dimensionality crucial for any multi-disciplinary arTIST.

After graduating from university and taking on the corporate world, Essiet felt the pull of a feeling that’s guided her since she can remember:

A gut feeling, inspiration, a muse — no perfect word exists for something bigger than what humans can explain, but that intuition is what pushed Essiet to become the full-time artist she is today.

Her prolific and adventurous nature has since birthed a range of creations and projects, from poetry recitations to public art displays, and music, paintings, and digital art, to a book of poetry.

Inspired by seeing herself reflected in poets like Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni, celebrating the beauty of Black womanhood and the power of self-belonging are themes Essiet centers to offer viewers the representation that was so crucial to her. An appreciation for identity and self-discovery permeates Essiet’s artwork, reflecting her own rich and expansive background as a Franco-Nigerian artist born in Los Angeles, raised in the South of France, and later moving to New York