Drifting Spirits
Dot Ateliers, Accra, Ghana
November 3 - December 1, 2024
The opportunity to create outside of a western context and specifically on the African continent, is a stimulus for new ideas and exploration. I wanted to explore this personal dichotomy further in Accra, a city that is flourishing with creativity and energy.
I recently started introducing a novel element to my paintings in which the whole surface of the canvas is seized by white lines, inspired not only by the various shapes that form a football net but also by the varying nature of life’s chapters. I am attracted to the repetitive process and the abstract square shapes of the net, and how depending on movement, the direction of the lines can adopt a different route. This type of cross-word effect provides me with a new language and I’ve been deepening my exploration of this since being here.
Since arriving at the beginning of November, I’ve got into a bit of a routine — waking up as soon as the light peaks through the window and hearing the cock or the nearby church break into song; buying deliciously fresh mango and pineapple cut meticulously from the lady who sells at the same place every morning; exchanging a warm ‘good morning’ or ‘good evening’ with the community members I cross paths with — simple things which have given me moments of joy and some sort of comfort. I have gotten a real sense of ‘home’ and connection from being here. Memories of my childhood in Comoros have come to life again and I’ve tried to reflect these feelings in the studio, simply keeping these connections fluid and alive. Something so simple, yet so complicated. It’s personal. But I’m trying to follow the work and process wherever it takes me. In a way, I’ve been figuring out what kind of an artist I am or want to be.
I’ve been thinking about these daily habits I’ve acquired and the experiences and memories that have resurfaced while being in Accra. The repetitive nature of our daily movements and rituals are the building blocks of rhythm. And I’ve become more conscious of how experiences of encounters touch us in certain patterns and rhythms — the time the golden sun sets each evening while children play football, waving each morning and night at the lady within her shop by Dot Atelier. Repetition informs our everyday lives. It builds a sense of security, almost having a metrical quality, ensuring the completion of tasks and relieving tensions.