Artist Bio

Kassamira Carter-Howard (she/her) is a black queer multi-disciplinary artist living bicoastally between the DMV and the PNW. Her work has exhibited in group shows in the United Kingdom, California, North Carolina, Washington, DC, and Maryland, including L'étoile Studio, Dupont Underground, Eaton DC, Art of Noize, Arts Council of Fayetteville, and the Raunjiba Design Center. She has also facilitated interactive art spaces that invite spectators to move beyond gazing to critically engaging with the artwork. She enjoys visioning black people in thriving spaces, seeking out mediums like watercolor, acrylic, collage, and photography to best bring that vision to life. She graduated magna cum laude from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Political Science and Ethnic Studies with a minor in Gender Studies. 

Artist Statement

I am a mutli-disciplinary visual artist and sound healing practitioner who deeply understands that art is where we practice critical thinking, radical imagination, habit interruption, and self discovery. My creative process is emergent, immersive, expressive, and emotive. Each piece I create marks a milestone along my own healing journey. My work weaves together visions of a hopeful and thriving future with memories of a violent past to document the collective healing experience of black and brown diasporic communities. My perspective is informed by my experience as a descendant of enslaved African peoples on the continental U.S.

I seek to encapsulate everyday human experiences that get lost in translation in written form by using a variety of textures and techniques. I gravitate towards methods like layering, collage, and mixed media to disrupt social constructs and colonial ways of being (like severing the human experience from the natural world). I draw inspiration from old family photos and oral histories to invoke ancestral remembering. I consider this remembering in relationship to vibrant color palettes, striking textures, and bold lines that I associate with themes of black resilience, black joy, innovation and play. When woven together, I offer new possibilities for what our collective future could look like - one that acknowledges the violent history yet moves towards a future rooted in mutual care and interdependence. Through my work, I hope that others are inspired to examine their own understanding of the world and reimagine a world where violence is not our norm. 

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Exhibitions

2025

  • “The Black Woman is God,” Marlowe Gallery, San Francisco, California

2024

  • “Our People: Juried Exhibition,” Art Council of Fayetteville, Fayetteville, North Carolina

  • “Art in Dreams: Group Exhibition,” L'étoile Studio, London, United Kingdom

  • “Highlighting Black Artists: Black History Month,” Samsara, San Francisco, California

  • Charles Houston Law Association Annual Gala, San Francisco, California

2023

  • Life In Layers: Juried Art Exhibition, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Hyattsville, MD

2022

  • “The Gender Within: The Art of Identity,” Dupont Underground x Washington Blade, Washington, DC

  • “The Gender Within: the Art of Identity,” Eaton DC, Dupont Underground, Washington Blade, Washington DC

  • “Vanguard Social: Visions of Queer Resistance,” Southern Equality Studios x Fayetteville Arts Council, Fayetteville, North Carolina

  • “A Diamond in the Rough” Fundraiser Exhibition and Auction, Raunjiba Design Center x LPD Studio x Midtown Academy, Baltimore, Maryland 

2019 

  • “Are you Free In America?” Interactive Exhibition and Facilitated Conversation, Petworth Arts Collaborative x DMV Art of Noize, Washington, DC

Selected Publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

2019

Artist Residencies

  • Kaleidoscope Muralist Artist Residency, Creative Nomads, Maryland, 2025

  • Emerging Artist in Residence, Howard County Arts Council, Maryland, 2023-2024

  • The Leña Residency, Galiano Island, British, Columbia, Canada, October 2022 & June 2024

Media Interviews

Commissions