Adama Delphine Fawundu Unveils go-slow, Solo Exhibit at Hesse Flatow

Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Adama Delphine Fawundu '18 is presenting her second solo exhibition at HESSE FLATOW gallery, go-slow. The exhibition is a powerful exploration of Black identity, diaspora, and ancestral memory. Through a dynamic combination of painting, photography, and mixed media, Fawundu invites viewers into a deeply personal yet universal meditation on lineage, time, and transformation. 

Central to Fawundu’s practice is her diverse African heritage, with roots in Mende, Krim, Bamileke, and Bubi cultures. go-slow reflects her ongoing exploration of this lineage, drawing from a personal archive of objects, photographs, and stories passed down through generations. These elements are woven into her art, which blends the material and spiritual, creating works that resonate with both intimate and collective histories.

A defining aspect of go-slow is the concept of memory. For Fawundu, memory is not static but a living, evolving force—constantly reassembled and reinterpreted through time. In one of the exhibition’s standout pieces, she collaborates with her sister, Frances Fawundu, on a painting that reflects shared familial histories. This collaboration highlights how personal and collective memories are negotiated and re-formed through relationships and generational experiences.

Water emerges as a central symbol throughout go-slow, serving as both a material and metaphor. For Fawundu, water represents the fluid passage of time, the complexity of connection and separation, and the transference of cultural memory. The inclusion of water-saturated materials in her work evokes the idea of cultural identity as something that is continually mixed, diluted, and renewed.

A key piece in the exhibition, Klin wata no boku, duya, I du so!, encapsulates this relationship to water. It features quilts made from emptied water sachets, each bearing the traces of use—bite marks, beads, and cowrie shells—symbols of loss, memory, and the continuous flow of time. These sachets become metaphors for the body itself, absorbing and containing knowledge, culture, and history.

Fawundu’s approach to photography is similarly tied to culture. While her works are rooted in photographic processes, they transcend traditional methods through the integration of textiles, silkscreen, and other materials. A striking example is her use of patterns inspired by her grandmother’s garra textiles, which appear as spliced elements in the images. These patterns—printed on handmade papers or dyed fabrics—serve as a bridge between the past and present, embodying the spiritual and cultural resonance of her heritage. The tactile presence of raffia, hair, and healing herbs further enriches the works, imbuing them with ancestral significance.

The title go-slow is also a deliberate political gesture, a call to slow down in a world that demands constant productivity. In an era dominated by rapid technological advancement, Fawundu’s work resists the pressure to move quickly, urging viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with themselves and their histories. This “go-slow” approach is a form of protest—a deliberate deceleration that challenges the notion of progress tied to speed and efficiency.

Ultimately, go-slow is a call for collective reflection. Fawundu’s work asks us to reconsider how we understand identity, memory, and the connections that bind us to our ancestors. Through slow, deliberate processes of creation and transformation, her work invites us to honor the past while imagining new possibilities for the future. In go-slow, the act of remembering becomes an act of reinvigoration, a practice of care and mindfulness that links generations and offers new pathways for connection. 

go-slow can be viewed at HESSE FLATOW now through December 21, 2024.