Pamela Phatsimo SunstrumThe Knitter, 2020
Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum’s practice is shaped by her engagement with archetypes drawn from classical mythology, which she reimagines through a cast of recurring characters and alter egos. Sunstrum constructs richly layered compositions using pencil and oil paint, developing what she describes as a “collection of citations” that embed meaning through visual codes. These references range from (post)colonial portraiture to art historical dialogues with nineteenth century romanticist painters such as Robert S. Duncanson, whose ‘Land of the Lotos Eaters’ (1861) she cites as a touchstone.
This tension is embodied in the recurring figure of ‘The Knitter’ – a quiet but enigmatic presence within the work. Conceived initially as a figure with multiple busy hands engaged in weaving, crocheting, or knitting, ‘The Knitter’ reflects on forms of so-called “women’s work,” traditionally associated with domesticity and intimacy. At the same time, the figure evokes expansive cosmological questions, drawing unexpected parallels between acts of thread-work and scientific theories like string theory, both of which seek order within chaos. The inside of ‘The Knitter’s cloak becomes a symbolic site where these ideas converge – a place that is universe and abyss, body and unknown, all at once.
