Henriette Marie Goussikindey : Artist Resume

Henriette Marie Goussikindey is a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Augustin in Benin. She paints every day during the time allotted to personal activities, and often late at night. She teaches visual arts at the Institut national des métiers d’art, d’archéologie et de la culture of the University of Abomey Calavi.  She organizes drawing and painting workshops for girls, where she teaches basic techniques and explores color interactions. Her aim is not to impose a certain style or goal, but to accompany her students as they express themselves through art.

Soeur Henriette Goussikindey was born in Cameroon, but her family moved back to Benin when she was only four years old. As a child, she would translate every word with a drawing, driving her teachers nuts.

In 1994, she pronounced her perpetual vows. Impressed by her talent for drawing, her superiors allowed her to take art classes. In 1996, she was sent for two years to the Institut de formation artistique of Mbalmayo in Cameroon, where she took painting as well as ceramics classes. Back in Benin, she was assigned to the ornamentation of robes and altar linens and was a caricaturist for the Journal La Croix du Bénin. Feeling the urge to do more, she started painting small abstract pieces.

In 2005, Artistic Director Ousmane Aledji discovered her work and convinced her to show it to the general public. He organized a successful exhibition that launched her career as a professional visual artist. Since then, she has painted more than 300 artworks.

A multi-dimensional artist, Soeur Henriette engraves (she studied engraving in Canada during an artist residency in 2010), sculpts, and creates installations.

In Cameroon, she created a “Door of No Return,” in homage to those who lost their lives in their fight for truth and human rights.