Man's increasing proficiency in using the world is often accompanied by a reduction in humanity.
Holy Rollers is a series of sculptures that reflect the transitory nature of being. It confronts us with our ideas on vulnerability, mortality and humanity.
'' I would like,you see I'm far from saying that I can do all this,but anyway I'm aiming at it,I would like to do portraits which would look like apparitions to people a century later.''These are the words Van Gogh wrote to his sister during his last days in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. In the letter, he tells her why he no longer strives to achieve photographic resemblance, but instead tries to capture pure expression - the good, the bad and the ugly - in his portraits. It turned out to be a revolutionary move, which led to the making of some of his most iconic works. At the same time, he was struggling heavily with his mental health. It made me wonder if these works came about in spite of his condition? Or could we say that maybe it was exactly because of that condition?
Now, more than a century later, the number of people dealing with issues surrounding mental health continue to grow. Waiting lists are getting longer and longer. Help - if any - is difficult to find. Leaving us with one important question: where do we go from here?
'In the beginning is relation,’ reads the famous line from Martin Buber’s 1923 classic 'I and Thou'. To roughly summarize the philosopher’s plea, man is nothing without the existence of the other. My work Bébélé Zamba builds on this thought and occupies a space that is in-between. 94 embroidered portraits and a film are mediators between that which can’t be seen or said, but can be felt.
An icon shines light through which others can be seen.
Used screen-prints were used as the basis for these works. In Hidden Icons - which takes the icon out of its religious context - I portrayed women I came across on the street.
The dead are among us. In everything around us; in the shade, in the water and in the forest. Among the Bamiléké - my father’s tribe - this thought is also strongly present. It is based on the idea of human duality, with body and mind being separate entities. The immortality of the ancestor is passed on through the soul that resides in the skull. This also means that the dead never disappear, on the contrary, they are part of the community and everyday life. The body decomposes and slowly disappears underground, but the soul is something that continues to exist.
Echo was presented at the Dakar Biennale as part of the presentation ‘Forger / Out of the Fire’ from May 19 - June 21 2022. The projects Echo: Homo Fabricius and Echo: Double Trilogy were part of the installation.
For many centuries we - Africans and Europeans - have been aware of each other’s existence. Our different rhythms and patterns have met many times. These traces and legacies show us that these histories are never far away, that they are part of all our lives and not only of those of the ‘other.
The project 1525 was presented at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, The Netherlands and comprised a 25 metre high installation with 152 unique works - the series 152, which could be seen from both sides -, six films and fifty two prints.
The idea behind this work lies in giving objects a second lease on life, by transforming and converting them into something else. For Adieu l’enfance, I took religious bronze objects and transformed them into different objects, such as a chair, a vase, a ladder and a dromedary. Traces of the holy remain, but assume a different meaning in this altered, earthly context.
In Future Nostalgia, a series of aged industrial elements articulate the standard components of a regular vehicle. As such, the handlebars, seat, and frame have been recreated by hammers, rakes, pliers, and springs. Each component has its own distinct history, with multiple forms of deterioration such as rust and scrapes randomly dispersed throughout their surfaces in ode to their previous functions.
