Joana Choumali: Interconnected
Joana Choumali, INTERCONNECTED, Series Alba’hian, 2020
The mixed-media photographer, Joana Choumali creates her artworks from asking some of the most important questions in life that allude all of us. Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? Her finished works from such bold inceptions have the ability to resonate with every viewer.
As the pandemic progresses, many of us in the artworld are curious as to how this perplexing time has inspired contemporary artists. For artists like Hernan Bas, his figural paintings have become more dark and indicate his exploration of post-apocalyptic themes. Others are examining social justice issues that have been brought more to light in the main-stream such as the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and, tragically, many others. For Choumali, her artworks display an honest, yet optimistic outcome of the pandemic by conveying how we can all relate during this time because it is affecting every single one of us. We can also learn vital lessons from Choumali’s ongoing photography series.
Born in the Côte d’Ivoire during the mid-1970’s, Choumali has seen her country go through many different shifts politically and culturally. Some of her most imperative photographs come from her series depicting the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the Grand Bassam of 2016. These images capture the intensity of the street scenes of the poor people who survived these attacks. Choumali conveys these scenes through the mournful expression on the survivors’ visages.
Choumali takes her photographs to a more intricate level by developing her photographs on canvas with the intention of creating a mixed-media collage on the original image. After developing her images onto the canvas, she finishes her artworks by embroidering figures and other universally personal objects on the photographs. By doing this, she creates documentary images in an intimate and meditative manner that resonates with every audience.
Her photograph, INTERCONNECTED, Series Alba’hain had a visceral effect on me, in particular. In this image, we have a view of an urban landscape. On top of this landscape, we see the most significant part of the image: the three subjects. Beginning with the figure to the far left, we see a masculine individual in casual clothing. In the middle of the foreground sits the second and most prominent figure. She is also in casual attire in an easy-going act of listening to music on her mobile phone. The third figure on the right also appears to be a female, in every-day apparel and wearing a head-scarf. Something interesting that Choumali chooses to add is these figures positioning so the audience understands where they are actually situated in the landscape. Even in the urban jungle these figures are connected.
The noteworthy attributes that each figure has are the ones in which they share with the other figures. They are all wearing the same yellow shirt and a face-mask, which the latter indicates to the audience the time period the artist is depicting. All three of the figures are in states that every single person finds themselves in daily. Moments that we typically considered to be the breath before the hassle of continuing our days and our daily activities.
Choumali uses the embroidery to portray a scene of calmness of evening. The use of purple hues and the embroidered stars in the sky give a serene, magical feeling. One of unconscious peace and pensivity that our three individuals are in the moment of. The calm before the storm of daily life. The most striking embroidery is the beams of light that connect all of the figures' minds. These beams illustrate that they are all contemplating the most allusive questions in life. Perhaps they are even considering the state of the world we are in, and how we move forward collectively. One thing is for certain: we all investigate these questions, and that is at least one thing that connects us all.
I for one very much appreciate seeing an artwork like this one inspired by the pandemic. Instead of looking at the destruction and division that is going on in the world, which is so prevalent, we are reminded of a glimmer of hope. There is hope to get through this pandemic because we have each other.
If we collectively take the lesson from this artwork, we can work to reach the harmony depicted in this photograph. We can do this by focusing on our similarities. During this time, we all have similar concerns of how we can get out of this global situation in a secure way. This artwork reminds us that just by sharing these concerns can help us to find different similarities in order to move forward together.
I may seem like a broken record at this point, but connecting with one another is truly the only way forward. We need to help one another and look at all perspectives to help each other and humanity.
The one question that really has the most weight from this photograph is, “where are we going?” This might be the scariest question we have to ask ourselves right now, because there is no definitive answer. The unknown is something that provides so much fear in all of us, but moving forward is something that we all want. (Even more similarities!)
Discovering this artwork brought me hope today, and I hope it has for you, too. The present may feel bleak, well, because it is, but at least we have hope for a safe, peaceful future. That collective hope will allow us to have that future we seek if we make the effort. And, we have to make an effort to remind ourselves of that hope. We can achieve the interconnectedness of Choumali’s embroidered photograph. In order to help us out with this task, I hope that Choumali continues to create artworks with similar themes.
As always, we can get through this together.
Further resources:
http://www.gallery1957.com/artists/joana-choumali/
