Pamela Sunstrum

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum is a contemporary visual artist from Botswana, currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is known for her large-scale, intricate drawings and paintings that explore themes of identity, memory, and mythology. Sunstrum's works often incorporate a range of cultural and historical references, including African cosmology, science fiction, and Western art traditions. Her pieces are highly detailed, with layers of symbolism and imagery that invite the viewer to engage with the work on multiple levels.

Artistic Practice and Influences

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum's artistic journey traverses drawing, painting, installation, and animation, weaving a rich tapestry of mythology, geology, and cosmic theories. Her creations draw from literature, film, and theater, crafting an expansive narrative set against landscapes evoking both futurism and ancient history. Born in 1980 in Mochudi, Botswana, Sunstrum's upbringing in diverse locales like Canada, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Malawi, and Panama imbued her art with a kaleidoscope of cultural memories. Currently based in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunstrum continues to explore the boundaries of identity through her artistic practice.

Themes and Motivations

Pamela Sunstrum's oeuvre reflects her research in ethnography, ecology, and quantum physics, intertwining the diverse genealogies of her life experiences. Central to her practice is the exploration of Black female identity within postcolonial and neocolonial discourses. Through her boundary-crossing approach, she highlights overlooked historical figures and champions alternative modes of knowledge beyond conventional paradigms.

Motivated by ancient mythologies and scientific inquiries, Sunstrum probes the origins of time, geological concepts, and cosmic phenomena. Her works oscillate between autobiographical narratives and broader explorations of transnational identities, human connections, and cross-cultural rituals. Through drawings, installations, and stop-motion films, she delves into the intricacies of identity formation within geographic and cultural landscapes.

Sunstrum's alter ego, Asme, symbolizes her evolving selfhood, overlaid with gestures to signify layered time and a universal, timeless existence. Her landscapes, both real and imagined, capture the essence of individuality within the vast expanse of the universe, echoing themes of the sublime.

International recognitions

Pamela Sunstrum has exhibited widely, with notable shows at prestigious venues such as the GTA21 Triennial Exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto, Canada; The Bronx Museum in New York, USA; the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa Museum der Moderne Salzburg and Kunsthaus Zürich in Germany; The Showroom in London, England; and The Wiels Contemporary Art Centre in Brussels, Belgium.