1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

Taking as its starting point the artists’ shared interest in the indeterminacy of collective and personal memory, the exhibition invites us to consider how tradition and history resonate across time to shape our contemporary view of the world.

Stacey Gillian Abe draws on early autobiographical experiences in figurative paintings that offer a reassessment of conventional depictions of Black women. Focusing on the concept of shared memory, Abe’s work examines how memories have been passed down through her family’s lineage, alluding to the ways in which traditions are absorbed and transformed from generation to generation. Probing unsettling past and present narratives of identity, gender and spirituality, her works act as a gateway to memory – particularly to notions of sensory memory.

These ideas are found in Abe’s use of the colour indigo, which invokes nostalgic relationships to colour as well as the dye’s role in the slave trade. Indigo’s complex history is imprinted on the Black body, but also referenced through the embroidered threads that the artist hand-weaves through each canvas. Abe explains, “When I think about the way that indigo was significant in facilitating the exchange of Black bodies, I am reminded of the strong bond that we always had with material, colour and dye.” Embroidery and cloth are therefore strong visual elements in her practice, enabling the artist to revisit the traditional, historical and personal significance attached to fabric.