Kione Grandison (b. 1996 in London) is an artist living and working in London, with a strong cross-cultural practice that spans across various interests relating to identity.

Working predominantly with painting and mixed media collage, Grandison’s work is interested in numerous subjects- the Black beauty industry, traditional African adornment practises and tools for ‘beautification’, such as the hair comb, and Jamaican music and dancehall culture. Hair is a significant subject within the work, examining African and diasporic hairstyling practises past and present, and observing how colonialism and beauty standards (as a result), have influenced the way that black people view themselves and their hair. 

Grandison see's her work as a process of self-exploration. She is often thinking about what it means to be a Jamaican, a displaced African, and a person of mixed heritage in the UK, simultaneously trying to forge a connection to the land her ancestors originate from. Jamaica, her familial connection to the country and time spent there, provide another evident source of inspiration and motifs in the work include lush green landscapes and references to sound system culture. 

In the same year as graduating from a Fine Art Painting BA at Wimbledon college of Arts, Grandison was one of the recipients of the Woon Foundation art prize in 2017. Since then she has worked on collaborations and commissions for various notable clients including Netflix, Adidas, Channel 4, Geejam hotel Jamaica, The National Film Board of Canada, and fashion brands including Nicholas Daley and The Elder Statesman. These projects resulted in portraits, large scale public artworks, hand made flyers and hand painted artworks for clothing.

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Alongside her art practise, Grandison is a self-taught nail artist. Having developed her nail career working at renowned London nail art bar WAH nails she is now a freelancer, working with brands, on editorial shoots and music videos. Grandison has always seen nail art as a creative and expressive outlet which can be directly linked to her artistic practice.

Similarly to hair, nail art is a popular tool for self-expression within diasporic African and Caribbean communities. Grandison is interested in how adornment practices have evolved through time and through the forced displacement of African people. She sees her creative process as similar to the type of beautifying that happens within black beauty salon spaces.​

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