Chuma Adam for Gibela by FEDE Arthouse
Chuma Adam (b. 2001) is a Johannesburg-based multidisciplinary artist whose work explores visibility, Black identity, and self-actualization. A Fine Arts graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand, her artistic practice encompasses painting, printmaking, and drawing, delving into themes of visibility and the complexities of Black identity. Influenced by philosopher Édouard Glissant’s theory of opacity, Adam seeks to portray the nuanced experiences of self-actualization within the Black community.
Her work often features ambiguous, calligraphic-like figures that explore misunderstood emotions such as grief and sentiment. Adam’s pieces are designed to evolve with the viewer’s state of mind, offering new interpretations upon each viewing. She has participated in exhibitions like “Modern Matriarchs: Charting New Frontiers in Art” at Windsor Gallery in Lagos, Nigeria.
Your work explores themes of Black identity and identity. How has your understanding of these themes evolved over time, and what influences shape your current practice?
So with identity and visibility, I’ve always had these questions and feelings throughout my life. When I got to university and started learning about history through art, blackness was often taught to us through an imperial lens. It felt like any attempt to redefine blackness was always in opposition to imperial ideologies.
In trying to understand black identity for myself, I realised I needed to look back in time and explore blackness outside the influence of imperialism. As my perspective has evolved, I’ve come to see that there’s still so much work to do more research, more unlearning to truly decolonize and re-contextualise blackness. It’s about reclaiming that narrative and being in charge of what blackness means to us.
You often incorporate ambiguity in your figures, using them to reflect complex emotions. can you walk us through your creative process when translating these emotional state into visual language?
I think of painting as a performance of both the mind and body. Abstraction allows me to freely transfer and translate my feelings into a state of clarity. My approach is also influenced by theories I’ve learned from studying Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. In Chinese calligraphy, specifically, mastery is rooted in having a clear mind and body it’s about how energy moves from within onto the canvas or surface you’re working on.
I try to follow that principle in my practice. My work is often informed by readings and philosophies that interest me, but sometimes it happens the other way around, I have all these feelings and thoughts without knowing exactly what they mean. Painting becomes a way to release that energy, step back, and then work from there to decipher what I’m thinking and what I want to express.
It’s an evolving system where each part informs the other. I always try to keep it open-ended I never want to go into a piece already knowing exactly what it will look like. That would feel restrictive, limiting new opportunities for exploration, research, emotions, or storytelling. I want to leave room for discovery.
Your work is often open to reinterpretation with each viewing. How important is it for you that your audience has a personal and evolving experience with your art?
I think it’s just as important for me to stay open and constantly evolve, because my work is all about rehistorising, decolonisation, and world-making. And the world itself is always changing. So, in trying to look into the past and rectify it for the present and even the future I recognise that as people, we are always changing too. I don’t think we’ll ever fully grasp or know everything.
That’s why I believe evolution and the desire to keep learning are natural. It’s what drives my practice. Even on a personal level, we are constantly meeting new people and engaging with different perspectives. It’s only natural to be drawn to that, to reflect on it, and to allow it to shape us.
Reflection is so important because it gives you clarity moving forward. Without it, how are we supposed to progress in anything? So yeah, it’s a lot to take in, but ultimately, reflection is key.
Your figures often seem to represent ambiguous, shifting toward finding one’s true self, and how do you hope viewers engage with this fluidity?
I hope viewers engage with the work by being open to its changes and fluidity. While it’s definitely a personal journey because I can only speak from my own thoughts and experiences I also see it as a collective one. We don’t exist in a vacuum, and community is very important to me, both in my work and in my personal life. As we navigate life, we often rely on each other, so in that sense, it becomes a shared experience.
That said, I think the individual has to commit to their own journey and growth for it to work on a communal level. It’s that idea of being the change you want to see, as cliché as that might sound. So, while the process starts personally, it ultimately feeds into something much bigger.
Looking ahead, what new directions or projects are you excited to explore in your work, and how do you see your art continuing to engage with themes of self-actualisation and Black identity?
I’m looking forward to showcasing my upcoming works in the Gibela exhibition with FEDE. Academia plays a huge role in my work both in production and knowledge creation. The themes of Gibela already align with ideas I’ve been exploring, like architecture, space history, land history, and materiality. Over time, I’ve been developing my practice by experimenting with different materials starting with soil and river sand and now expanding into new textures. I’m really excited about that evolution.
Lately, I’ve also been reading about the philosophy of biology, which has influenced my thinking. I’m trying to integrate different intellectual approaches bringing sociology, self-actualisation, and blackness into action. In my upcoming works, I’m being intentional about incorporating South African and African abstraction into the global conversation by using techniques that are uniquely African. By looking at our past, our history, and ancient ways of living, I want to merge these ideas and theories while modernizing them within the contemporary South African landscape.
I’m really excited about this direction and about developing a visual language that pushes beyond what I’ve done so far.
