Patricia Demba

My art practices are a constant reflection of my complex national identity. I have origins in multiple lands, and I have traveled and lived for long periods across the continents. Various cultural and social backgrounds I've inherited through my personal history intertwine and fuse inside of me, giving birth to my self-identification.

Thus, collage feels like a representative genre of who I am in terms of intermixing, mutual exchange, and synergy.

Collage is a dynamic structure that vigorously transforms by responding to arising challenges and shifting external factors. It constantly comes into contact with my life and lies at the very heart of my creative vision. Although I've turned to this artistic method earlier, recently, collage has taken on a new round. It is also an essential way of expression for me because it proves that I can make something meaningful out of apparently nothing. I can create something new and powerful by collecting fragmented elements, ideas, and legends.

It seems that collages are akin to how we remember people and events because various heterogeneous associations about an object always pop up in memory. Therefore, my artworks reconcile differing visual forms, but they also seem to store even textures and smells that get in touch with the viewer's subconscious.