Born to a father from Guyana and a mother from Barbados, Boyce drew incessantly as a child and was encouraged by a teacher to apply to art school. While studying at the Stourbridge College of Technology and Art, she found herself isolated by how whiteness dominated the classroom through its professors, students, and the artists they discussed. In the early 1980s, she made figurative pastel drawings and photo collages that explored issues of race and gender in the United Kingdom. She soon embarked on a lifelong project to promote underrecognized British artists of Black and Asian descent.

In 1987, She became the first Black British woman artist—and one of the youngest artists of her generation—to have her work acquired by the Tate. Around that time, Boyce shifted toward an approach that prioritized performance, sociality, and collaboration. Working across film, photography, print, sound, and installation, she has since fostered a participatory approach that examines artistic authorship, cultural differences, and personal and political subjectivities. Her work has involved conversations with museum visitors, curators, and volunteers about displays of historical paintings and representation of identity. In doing so, she has spotlighted fellow artists and marginalized communities to recover and present lost histories.

Boyce received her BFA from the Stourbridge College of Technology and Art. Her work has been supported by the University of the Arts London and the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts. She became the first Black female Royal Academician in 2016. In 2022, she was chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the Venice Biennale, where she received the Golden Lion prize for Best National Participation; she was the first Black woman to be chosen by the British Council for this honor. Her work first entered the Studio Museum’s collection in 2008.