“Traversées”: an emotional cartography of abstract art by Sheila Fuseini

As part of the “Pour l’art pour l’Afrique” event scheduled to run from May 14 to June 2, 2024, Chauvy Gallery in Paris is pleased to present the works of Ghana-born artist Sheila Fuseini for the first time in its Paris art space. Presented until May 20, the “Traversées” exhibition is a visual delocalization of the Ghanaian panorama on the walls of the art center. It’s an exclusive opportunity for art lovers to take a visual journey to this part of Africa and discover the art of Sheila Fuseini.

Through “Traversées“, the contemporary African artist transposes the rich landscapes of her native Ghana – its lagoons, endless savannahs and immense Lake Volta – fusing panoramas into an immersive spatial synthesis that evokes an imaginary journey.

Inspired by the creative and expressive style of Vassily Kandisky, Sheila Fuseini offers a visual that is both light and captivating. Using natural pigments extracted from carob plants, the artist experiments with delicate colors, offering a poetic project imbued with her emotional perception. The juxtaposition of surfaces, reminiscent of the technicality of kente, evokes the deep social values of Ghana, weaving a link between tradition and modernity.

In her work, Sheila Fuseini revisits modern artistic movements such as cubism and abstraction, integrating schematized figurative elements in contradictory perspectives to create a contemporary approach to painting. This exhibition promises an emotionally rich visual experience, inviting the public to immerse themselves in Sheila Fuseini‘s captivating artistic universe.

The Ghanaian artist adopts a creative approach that is both disparate and harmonious, giving her works an idyllic, immersive feel. Using basic components such as line, color and texture, she creates spatial fields integrating various materials such as acrylic and leather scraps from furniture or bags. Applying the principle of collage on tulle or panel, she brings a material dimension to her painting, offering the viewer a tactile experience and opening the way to new interpretations of her work.

Sheila Fuseini’s abstract creations go beyond a simple formal reading. The linear networks that structure her compositions give rise to broad flat tones of varied color, balancing subtle shades of blue, green, pink, gray, ochre and brown with bright touches of orange and red. These colored surfaces, sometimes enhanced with acrylic, form patterns of lozenges or triangles that intertwine without hierarchy, incorporating figurative elements in unpredictable ways, where a house can be as important as a leaf.

Through the paintings in the “Traversées” exhibition, Sheila Fuseini depicts the environment of her childhood, from the mud house in the heart of the savannahs of northern Ghana, to the vibrant colors of the region that remain anchored in her subconscious, feeding her imagination with personal sensations. From the landscapes of the South to the waterways, the vast sky and the shores of Lake Volta, “Traversées” becomes an emotional and artistic cartography of a journey across the lines that guide the eye to the Gulf of Guinea. It is here that the Ghanaian artist draws on new creative sources, linked to her memories, identity and culture, to offer an artistic experience rich in meaning.

The spatial fields painted by Sheila Fuseini are imbued with allusions to the world around her, offering topographical indications that guide the viewer through various places and moments in her life. These paintings act like a kaleidoscope, inviting the eye to travel from one space to another, through the artist’s memories and experiences. By creating compositions that capture the essence of Ghana’s landscapes, vibrant colors and varied textures, Sheila Fuseini creates an immersive experience that transcends the boundaries of abstract art to offer a unique and personal vision of her environment and journey. These spatial fields thus become open doors to an inner world rich in meaning and emotion, inviting the viewer to explore and contemplate the many facets of the artist’s work.