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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
BULAWAYO-born digital artist Leon Msipa last week raised the Zimbabwean flag high after his work was displayed at the Times Square and the Marriott Marquis in New York, United States of America.

Times Square in New York City is a major tourist destination as well as a major commercial intersection. It is famous for its large billboards and screens, which is where Msipa’s (19) artwork was exhibited.

The elated teenager said: “I had my work displayed at Times Square as well as in and outside of the Marriott Marquis.

These are great places to have your artwork featured considering the large sizes of the screens.

“Having over potentially 300 000 people seeing it daily allows your work to be appreciated at a mind-blowing scale by people from all over the world.”

He said his works were also featured at an event called NFT.NYC where a lot of art enthusiasts, collectors and creators meet up.

Asked about how his works made their way to America, Msipa said he came across an application form and submitted his artwork.

He said there were over 1 600 artist applications from all over the world.

“My art was curated by the NFT.NYC team and was included in the Diversity of Art collection which will be on sale as NFTs,” he said.

The enthusiastic artist said his work is inspired by black culture, music and his life experiences.

“I’ve been making art for most of my life, but only began making digital art in 2020.

This year, I worked with MTV for their Black history month and made album artworks for numerous musicians.

In the process, I received international recognition for my work,” said Msipa.

Msipa who completed his A-Level in 2021 at Midlands Christian College in Gweru did art as a subject and scored an A for his O-Level.

He said he is inspired by the music he listens to, other visual artists, and the late Virgil Abloh and Tyler the Creator.

“From a young age, I developed an interest in art and I’ve been in love with it since then.

At some point, a bit too much since I remember one of my primary school teachers complaining about my habit of always drawing in class.

“This didn’t deter me as I continued pursuing traditional art.

Between 2019 and 2020, I didn’t really make much art, but once the Covid-19-induced lockdown started, I found myself with a lot of free time and eventually learnt about digital painting,” he said.

He said his type of art is digital and he uses an iPad to create content.

“Most of my work is made on my iPad from scratch.

The whole process of sketching and painting is done on the device.

How I’d describe my art is semi-realism portraiture although I’ve made numerous other pieces that don’t fall under that category.”

The process of digital painting, Msipa said is essentially the same as doing it traditionally with paints and canvases, except that it will be on a screen.

“My first ever digital drawing was in April 2020.

That’s the time I also opened my Instagram page @leonsrandoms.

I slowly, but surely started sharpening my skills and I’m growing an audience on this page.

In the process, I’ve received recognition from celebrities like Yara Shahidi, Ryan Destiny, and Willow Smith to name a few, all within my first year,” he said.

Turning to plans for the future, he said: “I’d like to grow my audience a lot more, especially locally.

I’d love to one day, have an art show and be featured in many galleries in and outside the country.

This is a goal I hope to achieve internationally so as to have my art showcased in many countries for more people to appreciate.

Starting a clothing brand of some sort is also something I hope for.”