Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum
(Botswanan, b. 1980)
Look Out, 2013
Watercolor, acrylic, and pencil on Rives BFL
Gallery Purchase during the 2016 Art Acquisition Party with contributions from various donors
Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum’s artwork synthesizes Afrofuturism and earthly and cosmic landscapes to imagine the potential of a radical new future. In Look Out, an indigo, constellation-filled sky sheds blue-hued drops over a rocky landscape, generating another world in which Black people’s full potential can be realized. The artist imagines her landscapes outside of a familiar present, layering translucent swaths of paint and eliminating visual markers of time and space to add a transcendent quality to the work. Sunstrum speculates on African innovation and uniqueness, and calls upon diasporic and collective fantasies to celebrate her African heritage.
Biography
Sunstrum is a visual artist specializing in painting and illustration. She earned her BA in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Sunstrum's work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Pretoria Art Museum, South Africa; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, Brooklyn, NY; Contemporary Arts Museum; Houston; and Artspace, Raleigh, NC; among others. Sunstrum 2013 residency at the Van Every/Smith Galleries culminated in her solo exhibition ab initio, which included Look Out.
Sunstrum is the recipient of several prestigious awards and honors, including the Brandywine Prints Workshop Young Artist Fellowship, a Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship, and Brenner Faculty Grant for Professional Development at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has served numerous residencies, including ones at FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France; Main Street Life Artist Exchange, Johannasburg, South Africa; Becomo Arts Center, Sewoto, South Africa; Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD, among others. Sunstrum currently lives and works between Johannesburg, South Africa, and Ontario, Canada.
Media
Interlochen Arts Academy guest artist Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum's "Omphalos" mural in the Interlochen Center for the Arts Dow Center for Visual Arts gallery.
