Kosi Ayanna (b. 1994, Washington, DC) is from PG County, Maryland. Currently working out of Washington, DC, and Brooklyn, New York.

 

Kosi Ayanna (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and cultural strategist. Her practice is rooted in community, spirituality, and interdisciplinary inquiry. Her work explores memory, identity, and interpersonal reflection, examining how personal and collective histories shape the ways we see ourselves and each other. Kosi Ayanna has used creative expression as a form of storytelling, connecting art with history, philosophy, and lived experience.

Through mixed media, symbolism, and elemental references, she creates visual spaces that reflect memory, identity, and the emotional landscapes of marginalized experience. Over time, her practice evolved into a space for research, resistance, and self-definition—bridging art with history, philosophy, and lived experience. Informed by her studies in the humanities and cultural studies, she approaches art as both an intellectual framework and a spiritual tool: a way to investigate the past, interrogate the present, and imagine expanded futures. She views art as both witness and offering, a way to honor resilience, challenge injustice, and imagine new possibilities for collective care. By engaging themes of belonging, spirituality, and transformation, her practice asks viewers to consider how dignity, freedom, and compassion shape the worlds we build together. 

Her practice juxtaposes color, texture, collage, and film photography to create these realms of transformation. Pursuing different styles has become a way of exploring the complexity of oneself, expanding beyond the limitations of phenomenal existence. Having the freedom and flexibility to explore new ideas and techniques encourages her creative process. Inspiration comes from many sources: music, language, film, personal experience, internal reflections, and external connections.​

 

She has exhibited work in many group exhibitions and publications over the years. Her work has been exhibited in Washington, DC; Harlem, NY; Yonkers, NY; and Times Square, NY, and featured in print and virtually with Artist Closeup Magazine, The Holy Art Gallery, and Artists Talk Magazine.