Zhannay  “Naynay” McBride is a self-taught visual artist located in Tampa, Florida, with seven years of dedicated studio practice. Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, she creates vibrant, imaginative paintings that explore complex emotional landscapes and are deeply influenced by the media of her childhood and Y2K media.

Through her art, Zhannay employs colorful, expressive characters to illuminate her lived experiences with Type 1 diabetes and mental health challenges. Her work has been featured at prominent local cultural events, including the Tampa Juneteenth Festival, Tampa Pride, and exhibitions at the Carrollwood Cultural Center. Looking ahead, Zhannay is committed to expanding her body of work to further raise awareness about Type 1 diabetes, with plans to showcase these new projects at upcoming exhibitions in galleries throughout the Tampa Bay Area.

Artist Statement

“My body of work is a collage of my memories, culture, and experiences. I look fondly at my experiences whether they are good or bad because it comes from a place of understanding and I try to convey that perception into my paintings. I enjoy sneaking in some elements from early 2000s cartoons and Y2K media because these things helped comfort me during my struggles with juvenile Type 1 diabetes and mental health. I prefer using cartoon elements as a vehicle to portray heavy topics because it allows a safe space where genuine dialogue can be opened for everyone without being so obtrusive.

I have been experimenting with creating scenes that are a mixture of flat 2-D elements against 3-D elements to add many visual textures to the painting and I enjoy creating the look of paper in my artwork. People are a lot like sheets of paper, we all have folds and creases in many different places, many of us have similar experiences but we all have different viewpoints.This is how people connect and have empathy for one another.”

– Zhannay Monique