Everlyn Nicodemus was born in 1954 in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, but life took her to Sweden, France, and Belgium. She eventually settled in Scotland, but not before accruing her fair share of trauma. During those years on the move, Nicodemus experienced persecution, harassment, and a near-death experience. She began to combat her PTSD with colorful paintings of the female body. “I refuse to be a prisoner of racism, sexism and the past,” she said two years ago. Nicodemus’s first retrospective is held in the city she calls home. —Elena Clavarino