Artist to Know: Ron Norsworthy

Ron Norsworthy is the kind of practitioner who treats pattern as a proposition: formal, historical, and unapologetically personal. Best known for graphically layered wallpaper and large-scale surface work, his practice turns ornament into cultural critique: repeats and motifs serve as the vehicles to encode memory, migration, and Black queer presence into domestic space. Norsworthy’s designs insist that walls do more than hold up a room; they hold legacies. 

In his hands, wallpaper becomes an argument about identity and belonging. Rather than fade into the background, his patterns redirect and challenge, asking viewers to sit with complexity where they might expect simplicity. Muted minimalism might dominate much of the current design conversation, but Norsworthy’s work reminds us that decoration can be rigorous, political, and generative– full-on maximalism with lineage and intention. ronnorsworthy.com

image: "And Mother Said Let There Be Ballroom, And It Was Good", 2020, wallpaper, textile.