Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum Panthea 04, 2016 Graphite, watercolour, and carbon paper transfer on paper Work: 220 x 150 cm
Panthea is a series of drawings by the artist, inspired by divine geometry inscribed within Platonic Solids —named after the philosopher Plato, who wrote extensively about regular, convex polyhedrons in relation to the three elements of earth: air, water, and fire. Through this work, Sunstrum superimposes multiple versions of the human figure with geometric forms, experimenting with scale and movement. Furthermore, Panthea, translates as “all the Gods” in Greek and serves as an apt description of Sunstrum’s larger practice which seeks to explore and to validate all forms of knowledge. In doing so, she flattens the hierarchies between science and mysticism, fact and allegory, past and future, bringing “all the Gods” into conversation.
Through her multilayered approach, Sunstrum explores the relationality of space and the body. A single body, Asme, embodies masses of bodies thereby conveying an unfixed and evolving connection with selfhood and community.
