Born in 1960 in Nyanga, Agnes Nyanhongo is now one of the most prominent and successful of Zimbabwe's sculptors and one of the most acknowledged female artists in Africa. Agnes is the daughter of the well known sculptor, Claud Nyanhongo, and as a child spent a great deal of time helping him with the polishing of his work. The sensitivity with which Agnes expresses her ideas and the respect for the material that is so apparent in her work could arguably have resulted from these early formative experiences.

Agnes Nyanhongo began sculpting full time at an early age and in 1983 embarked on a three-year course at the B.A.T. Workshops in Harare, where she was considered to be one of the most promising students. Her quiet determination and belief in her work have carried it along a purposeful and individual path and have now earned her much critical acclaim and many awards. Agnes works quite extensively with the human form, sometimes specifically with female issues, but always expressing a calm and watchful strength that seems so true to her own personality and character.

Agnes Nyanhongo derives some inspiration from the stone itself, but much of her work depicts the natural world around her; making close observations, but ultimately working from her own mental images of the subject. However, it is with traditional Shona myths that she has become increasingly involved recently. Not only does she feel that these have great relevance now, but she believes, as a sculptor, she has a responsibility in keeping them alive.  Agnes Nyanhongo’s work is always attractive, with easy lines and areas of beautiful finish alongside other, unworked surfaces. As a result the images she produces, already universal by there nature, are presented in a combination of simplicity, quiet dignity, beauty and finesse.