By Christina Nafziger
The complex works of Patrick Quarm are full of hidden elements; elaborate details that you discover the more you examine each piece. Depending on the angle in which each piece is viewed, different aspects are revealed. Using African print fabric and oil paint, Quarm’s portraits adorn holes; circular cutouts that expose another meticulously painted composition on fabric underneath the first. In his piece Blue Rose, a woman holding the work’s namesake stands in front of a larger rose. Looking at the work straight on, the flower appears to be resting on her shoulder. However, from another view, you can see that the flower actually sits behind the woman, along with her violet, sunset-colored shadow. In Quarm’s portraits, there is always something to be found, to be seen again from new perspective.
The artist takes a subject that is so embedded in art history—the figure—and uses it as a device to uncover what is beneath the surface, to unearth and investigate the socio-political notions that have influenced the art-historical canon, asking: what does it mean to be a contemporary African artist today? Living in Ghana, where he was born, Quarm attempts to bring to the surface the complex history of the contemporary African artist. The intricacies of his own experience is embedded in dualities, assimilation, and code-switching, as his identity changes depending on where he is and how people see him. In this interview, the Quarm describes his experience and how his multi-layered artistic process challenges these notions and investigates “the block body living within the cultural third space.”
Quoting Frantz Fenon, the artist states: “in the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself.”
The figure is definitely making a comeback in the art world. What drew you to this subject matter? What impact do you hope/aim to make on this once traditional genre?
My interest in the figure is a personal preference, as I have always been interested in the human body. Since my early years in high school and undergraduate studies in Ghana, the figure has been a subject of great interest. I saw it as a challenging subject matter, so my success in rendering the figure meant I had conquered this challenge.
The more I engaged with the figure, the more I begin to discover the human body as a terrain for political and social interventions. Using it as a subject matter in a painting allows me to communicate ideas. Thus, the figure is an access point, it is a relatable means I can use to construct a universal language.
Every artist seeks to communicate ideas and wants their painting to make an impression, and even more so to establish a conversation or cause a certain kind of influence. Within that, we find certain subject matters that we deem comfortable or conducive to establish these languages. To me, the figure is conduit; people can relate to, experience, or navigate it through their personal experiences.
Not too long ago in the art world, it was common to hear phrases like “figure painting is dead” or that it is an “old” notion. There seems to be a re-emergence of figurative painting, which is a good thing. History always repeats itself, and in every case, there is always a form of reinvention that piques my interest. I tend to be conscious of how I am reinventing the figure and the narrative to cast new understandings, and to establish new conversations as compared to how it was used by predecessors.
I use of the figure to highlight the complex history of the contemporary African artist, posing the question: who is the African artist in this contemporary time? Abstraction has been the primary association with African art; however, as contemporary African artists use the figure, it creates this excitement that allows us to have more understanding of how hybridized the art practice is within the continent.
Most of your paintings are on African print fabric. Can you talk a bit about this material and the significance of it in your work?
To deliver a solid concept, I start by thinking about materials that possess dual identity, such as the African print fabric. Though colorful, my interest in it is not solely for the colors or patterns. The primary reason for using the African print fabric is its complex history. Originating from Indonesia, the fabric ultimately arrived in Africa through trade and was dubbed African print fabric. This material embodies a great channel for the message I seek to conveyed.
In pieces like ANNOR and MAMA BA, you’ve created an incredible circle pattern through the use of holes that open toward the viewer, creating an affect not unlike a hole punch. This brings to mind the work of Howardena Pindell, who often used hole-punched circles in her paintings. Is she an influence on your work at all? What inspired you to create this three-dimensional affect?
The invention of my three-dimensional approach was a result of a simple question: what if I am able to flip the chapters of history, what would we uncover? With this question, I started thinking of archaeology and the processes of excavation used by archaeologists in discovering remnants and memories of history. As a result of this, I established a series of experimentations dealing with cutting. The idea of cutting was akin to excavating history, i.e. the history of the African print fabric and history of the modern African. Initially my cuts followed alongside the shape of the patterns in the African fabric I was using. However, over time, it became obvious that working with the circular and semi-circle patterns was simpler.
While there may be similarities in approach between Howardena’s work and mine, there are glaring differences. The style of my work evolved from my experimentation. I was interested in archaeology and thus began to repeat these processes in the studio. Essentially, the studio became my lab where constant experimentation took place until I arrived at the semi-circle shapes, which fused perfectly and allowed me to deliver the results I wanted.
What is your relationship with the people in your paintings? Do you know them personally?
The subjects in my paintings are usually family, friends, and strangers. The main thing I look for in selecting a subject is an individual with a complex history. I am interested in people whose history places them within a dual social space; people who have dual identities. For example, someone who is born a Ghanaian and living in the U.S. I am consistently interested in individuals living within and navigating cultural spaces.
Your portraits are dense with layers of pattern and texture, with both elements woven throughout, going over and under the figure. Can you discuss your process building up your paintings, conceptually and physically?
I think about my process as a constant relationship between me and the materials I use to creates my paintings, which include African print fabrics and oil paints.
My process involves coordinating various elements between different materials to create an image that is visually harmonious, which establishes the desired narrative. Typically, I do not have a preconceived outcome of a painting, but instead allow the relationship between me and the materials to guide its direction and outcome. The most prominent aim for my paintings and process is the idea. I begin with an idea that reflects cultural hybridity and social evolution, which is then transformed into drawings and photographs.
In the next stage of my process, I collage the African prints fabrics into an unstretched primed canvas, and with that as my background I collage different fabrics to create the body. After, I paint sections of the body, which is mainly characterized by erasure. This translucent layering exposes the fabric and its pattern, representing the figures core makeup. This process in my work signifies the exposure of memory and invites the viewer to question what is true or false, what has been disguised or hidden. The three-dimensional nature of my work allows the viewer to physically engage with each layer of the painting. I think of this experience as a way that we can move through time.
In your artist statement, you discuss the multiplicity of your identity: Nzema, Ghanaian, African. How is the complex notion of identity, and perhaps more specifically, your identity, reflected within your work?
The notion of identity is reflected in the people and materials I select, as well as the technique I use to convey these ideas. The idea of multiplicity or someone living in between spaces is presented within the three-dimensionality of my work. When the viewer navigates through the layers of my work, I’d like for them to position themselves within the context of this dual history, by allowing their bodies to also physically be a partaker.
The fabric serves as a great metaphor. I acquire these fabrics from various parts of Ghana; when they cross borders and arrive in my studio, I transform the identity through the process of cutting, gluing, painting, erasing, and camouflage. They take on a new entity, which is the painting. The multiplicity of my hybrid identity is synonymous to these processes. I am constantly evolving through the process of adaptation, merger, acculturation. This reminds me of quote by Frantz Fenon, “in the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself.”
7. There is a specific piece of yours that I am completely enamoured with: Camouflage, 2017. There is so much to absorb. There are patterns within patterns, with a portrait of a woman partially hidden behind the paintings complexities. I’m curious, is this woman hiding or blending in to her environment? Can you talk about the thought behind the painting?
During my work on this painting, I was thinking of the hybrid individual living in between spaces. What happens to them? How do they exist and how do they present themselves? With this thought, the word camouflage came to mind. I wanted to create a work that was consistent with the idea of camouflaging. The hybrid living within the cultural third space is always adding and subtracting cultural influences into their being. Over a period, camouflaging yourself while navigating cultural spaces becomes a coping mechanism. The idea of camouflaging is a necessary tool that comes to play when the hybrid is trying to assimilate.
In the painting, camouflage became my interpretation of this mysterious entity that we get a glimpse of. In the work, the subject reveals and disguises herself; we are aware of her presence, yet she is a mystery.
8. Congratulations on your solo exhibition Salvage Imperial opening at Albertz Benda Gallery on September 4, 2020! Tell us a bit about the works included in the show.
This is my first solo show in NY. I am excited! Even more so at how responsive people are before the official opening. The exhibition has a total of 10 paintings, ranging from a work that is 12 ft to a few smaller works. Salvage Imperial is an expansion of my take on cultural hybridity and the black body living within the cultural third space. I am revisiting memories shared by my father and my experiences as young man navigating the world. It is a depiction of my collection of memories, which I refer to as “salvaging”. These memories are what I think of as hybrid protagonists and in further terms I’d describe it as imperial.
The new body of work is characterized by two layers, which is my way of contrasting the past and present while representing both parallels as a unified narrative.
9. Are there any contemporary artists working in portraiture whose work you find particularly interesting?
Kerry James Marshall
Alfred Conteh
Conrad Egyir
