Olivia Pendergast
There Was Always Only One Zebra
Artist's Statement
After Olivia Pendergast had been sitting in meditation for years and years the Oneness of everything began to be apparent. Not the idea of oneness as in "we all live on the same planet and breathe the same air", but rather the lived experience of Awareness or Consciousness that is "peering out of my eyes and hearing out of my ears is the same Awareness or Consciousness that is seeing out of your eyes and hearing out of your ears". Science can not find an edge or a boundary to our "personal" Consciousness.
A herd of zebras is a lovely metaphor that points at the apparent Oneness. The zebras all stand together and visually become one organism blending, yet scintillating. This blending or Oneness is a crucial realization in today's world at a time of such incredible division that is destroying our countries, our cultures, our towns and our families.
The auras that Olivia paints represent this Awareness, sometimes blazing and sometimes obscured or veiled by thinking and the difficulties of life.
The painting "Under The Exquisite Night, Everyone Is Searching For What They Already Are" shows the search for Love, for Wholeness, for something to fill the void. They simply have not remembered, yet, what they already are. The very nature of this Awareness is joy and peace but it is obscured by our mind's search for external happiness. Everything under that exquisite night is perfect exactly as it is.
Olivia Pendergast comes from a family of artists and has been painting since she was 4 years old. She has been meditating for almost 30 years and teaches Non-Duality Meditation in Nairobi, Kenya.
Olivia Pendergast - February 2026 - Nairobi, Kenya
After Olivia Pendergast had been sitting in meditation for years and years the Oneness of everything began to be apparent. Not the idea of oneness as in "we all live on the same planet and breathe the same air", but rather the lived experience of Awareness or Consciousness that is "peering out of my eyes and hearing out of my ears is the same Awareness or Consciousness that is seeing out of your eyes and hearing out of your ears". Science can not find an edge or a boundary to our "personal" Consciousness.
A herd of zebras is a lovely metaphor that points at the apparent Oneness. The zebras all stand together and visually become one organism blending, yet scintillating. This blending or Oneness is a crucial realization in today's world at a time of such incredible division that is destroying our countries, our cultures, our towns and our families.
The auras that Olivia paints represent this Awareness, sometimes blazing and sometimes obscured or veiled by thinking and the difficulties of life.
The painting "Under The Exquisite Night, Everyone Is Searching For What They Already Are" shows the search for Love, for Wholeness, for something to fill the void. They simply have not remembered, yet, what they already are. The very nature of this Awareness is joy and peace but it is obscured by our mind's search for external happiness. Everything under that exquisite night is perfect exactly as it is.
Olivia Pendergast comes from a family of artists and has been painting since she was 4 years old. She has been meditating for almost 30 years and teaches Non-Duality Meditation in Nairobi, Kenya.
Olivia Pendergast - February 2026 - Nairobi, Kenya
There Was Always Only One Zebra, 2026
Oil on Canvas
122 x 122cm
Kshs 800 000
USD 6 206
Oil on Canvas
122 x 122cm
Kshs 800 000
USD 6 206
Olivia Pendergast started painting when she was 4 years old and was raised on a farm in the mountains of North Carolina, USA where she was encouraged by her family to create art and follow in the footsteps of her artist Grandfather and Uncle.
Winning many awards and recognitions in secondary school she went on to attend a 5 year art university, Columbus College of Art and Design, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts. After graduation she spent 8 years working for various studios as a conceptual designer in the Los Angeles film industry, but eventually realized that fine art and painting was the path she wished to follow. She re-committed to her art and started selling in galleries as a 29 year old and has been painting full- time ever since.
She started traveling and painting in Africa in 2007 and became a resident of Kenya in 2016 where she resides currently in Nairobi.
She has shown in galleries and museums, won awards and been featured in magazines all over the world including: Polo Lifestyle Magazine, Western Art and Architecture, Vermont Studio Center Merit Award and Joseph V. Canzani Award for Excellence.
Winning many awards and recognitions in secondary school she went on to attend a 5 year art university, Columbus College of Art and Design, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts. After graduation she spent 8 years working for various studios as a conceptual designer in the Los Angeles film industry, but eventually realized that fine art and painting was the path she wished to follow. She re-committed to her art and started selling in galleries as a 29 year old and has been painting full- time ever since.
She started traveling and painting in Africa in 2007 and became a resident of Kenya in 2016 where she resides currently in Nairobi.
She has shown in galleries and museums, won awards and been featured in magazines all over the world including: Polo Lifestyle Magazine, Western Art and Architecture, Vermont Studio Center Merit Award and Joseph V. Canzani Award for Excellence.
Under the Exquisite Night Everyone is Searching For What They already Are, 2026
Oil on Canvas
122 x 122 cm
USD 5 900
Oil on Canvas
122 x 122 cm
USD 5 900
Separation is Only Illusory, 2026
Oil on Canvas
92 x 61 cm
USD 3 940
Oil on Canvas
92 x 61 cm
USD 3 940
The Gentlest of Looking, 2026
Oil on Canvas
61 x 45 cm
USD 2 780
Oil on Canvas
61 x 45 cm
USD 2 780
Sharing a Grapefruit, 2025
Oil on Canvas
90 x 120 cm
USD 6 206
Oil on Canvas
90 x 120 cm
USD 6 206
Arora
Oil on Canvas
61 x 46 cm
USD 2 780
Oil on Canvas
61 x 46 cm
USD 2 780
OLIVIA MAE PENDERGAST
Based in Nairobi, Kenya
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Acclaimed fine artist specializing in contemporary painting. Known for evocative, introspective portraiture and landscapes that explore human connection and cultural identity. Represented by premier galleries in Africa and Europe, with a prolific exhibition history spanning museums and galleries in Kenya, Spain, Italy, the UAE, and the United States.
EDUCATION & RESIDENCIES
Based in Nairobi, Kenya
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Acclaimed fine artist specializing in contemporary painting. Known for evocative, introspective portraiture and landscapes that explore human connection and cultural identity. Represented by premier galleries in Africa and Europe, with a prolific exhibition history spanning museums and galleries in Kenya, Spain, Italy, the UAE, and the United States.
EDUCATION & RESIDENCIES
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Illustration & Painting) | Columbus College of Art & Design | 1988 – 1993
- Residency Program (Scholarship) | Vermont Studio Center | 2001
- Professional Training | Scottsdale Artists' School | 2002
- One Off Contemporary Art Gallery | Nairobi, Kenya | 2013 – Present
- OOA (Out of Africa) Gallery | Barcelona, Spain | 2020 – Present
- Mestaria Gallery (formerly Showcase Gallery) | Dubai, UAE | 2015 – Present
- 2026 | There is Always Only One Zebra, One Off Contemporary, Nairobi, Kenya
- 2025 | The Light That We Are, One Off Contemporary, Nairobi, Kenya
- 2024 | Harmony of Humanity, OOA Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
- 2022 | Aura, One Off Contemporary Art Gallery, Nairobi, Kenya
- 2021 | Gallery From Africa, JGO Fine Art, Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
- 2020 | Emerge, OOA Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
- 2020 | Elders, Blue Heron Art Gallery, Vashon Island, WA, USA
- 2018 | Kindness: L’evidenza Invisibile, Contemporary Museum of Art of Rome (MACRO), Italy
- 2015 | Portrait of Middle Way, Showcase Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dubai, UAE
- 2012 | Children of OFK, Serenade Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- 2012 | Forgetting Haiti, Blue Heron Gallery, Vashon Island, WA, USA
- 2009 | Featured Solo Exhibition, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, NC, USA
- 2008 | View of Malawi, Phoenix Fine Art Gallery, Park City, UT, USA
- 2007 | Lyrical Nature (Featured Artist for Utah Symphony), Phoenix Gallery, UT, USA
- 2025 | Juxtaposed, Massillon Museum, Massillon, OH, USA
- 2025 | CBH African Art Collection, Rath Museum, Geneva, Switzerland
- 2024 | Bridge of Culture: African Art through Women’s Eyes, Ethnological and World Cultures Museum, Barcelona, Spain
- 2024 | Museum of Montserrat Group Show, Barcelona, Spain
- Business Daily (2025): "Olivia Paints Bold Critiques with Introspective Works"
by Frank Whalley. - In Nairobi (2025): "The Light That We Are: An Exhibition by Olivia Pendergast."
- Polo Lifestyle Magazine (2022): Artist Critique by Raphael Dapaah (February Issue).
- Thames & Hudson (2017): Featured in The Book of the Cat: Cats in Art by Angus Hyland and Caroline Roberts.
- Documentary (2018): Olivia Pendergast Profile Video.
Mara Eve, 2026
Oil on Canvas
122 x 122 cm
USD 5 900
Oil on Canvas
122 x 122 cm
USD 5 900