Exhibition:

Pamela Phatismo Sunstrum: Battlecry

Goodman Gallery, London

‘The Knitter’ (2020)

Pamela Phatismo Sunstrum creates complex and nuanced portrayals of black women, drawing on classical archetypes of the hero. She achieves this through multi-layered works that merge unique female figures with fantastical landscapes.

The Knitter (2020) depicts a formidable looking woman with an extra-ordinary number of hands. Unsurprisingly given the title, she holds a huge length of ochre-toned yarn and knits, using all thirty digits.

As the viewer, we are of no interest to the woman; with her head turned away, and eyes staring into the distance, she waits expectantly for something, or someone, to arrive. Draped across her shoulders is a beautiful, intricate shawl, which is filled with calming tonal variations of blue and green (like most of the board), thus mimicking the native landscape.

It would be easy to view The Knitter (2020) as simply a depiction of a mythological woman – a sage elder, perhaps. On closer inspection, however, red pencil lines scoring her upper body reveal armour-like detail, transforming the shawl into a cloak of the warrior. These markings are reiterated on her body, now presenting her in heroic uniform. The figure, who was, on first inspection old, female, and domesticated, is now rejuvenated, of indeterminate gender, and battle-ready.

The artist’s layering of visual clues encourages the viewer to embark on a journey of discovery, and delve deeper into the fantastical world Sunstrum depicts, and re-evaluate our biases in relation to age, gender, and role.