In her recent body of work, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum explores early 19th century studio photography portraits that feature black and brown people posed against somewhat contrived, hand-painted landscapes. Sunstrum is inspired by the manner in which the subjects in the photographs engage in self-mythology, of casting their own image, regardless of agency. Sunstrum’s landscapes also expand on themes of timelessness; she reconstructs sites both real and imagined, revealing the small scale of individuals within the vast universe, a concept that is reminiscent of 18th century notions of the sublime.
Recent exhibitions include, All My Seven Faces, CAC Cincinnati (2019); Diorama, Tiwani Contemporary (2019); Multiple Transmissions: Art in the Afropolitan Age, Wiels, Brussels (2019); Fly Me to the Moon, Kunsthaus Zurich and Museum der Moderne, Salzburg (2019); Women on Airplanes, The Showroom, London (2018); The Phillips Museum of Art, Lancaster (2018); Interlochen Centre for the Arts, Interlochen(2016); VANSA, Johannesburg (2015); FRAC Pays de Loire (2013); the Havana Biennial (2012); and MoCADA, New York (2011).