28 November, 2024 – 29 March, 2025
Children of
The Universe
Efo Sela
During a total eclipse, the period that the Moon covers the Sun and pitches the Earth into total darkness lasts up to 7.5 minutes.
Efo Sela is immersed in a long eclipse- total darkness. It is no longer a fleeting period in his life. It is a time during which he confronts his existence within the bigger cosmos. The sliver of light behind the sun and the diamond ring statically serve as a helpless yet hopeful reminder of things to come.
Confounding science, this long eclipse, disrupts the circadian cycles, rhythms and flows and programmes of human activity. To ground our helplessness, many cultures who associate the darkness with death, doom, negativity find ways to bridge earthly people with the mystic gods who they believe rule the universe. Spirits become conduits between worlds inviting people to pacify the angry gods with rituals, sacrifices and convey messages to draw their attention to the imbalances, injustices and cruelty they may have caused.
Darkness has long been associated with negativity in the world. Expressions like the dark web, dark world, dark forces refer to illegal or nefarious dealings. In Ghana, it’s a colour associated with death. In Christianity, Christ- the saviour- came to shine light into the dark world, He brings salvation because he is a light of all nations. Sela chooses not to escape the inescapable, instead he forces himself into introspection. His eyes are no longer widely shut. What dares to seep through the slits into his subconscious? We are immersed in a rolling movie script of uncontrollable imagery shaped from sculptural figurines from Baule and Senufo people, Yeve religious symbols, adinkra symbols, linguist staffs etc. In a manner not indistinguishable from how obelisks were made by ancient Egyptians, layers of histories, stories, and macabre and androgynous beings sit toe to toe, crying with grief about the future of the world.
He confronts tensions, social unrest, existential threats to our water bodies, soil poisoning and degradation and birth deformities, from a place of darkness, whilst looking out to the calm that beckons, and to the embryonic forms waiting to birth new life and hope.
Ours is to trustingly embrace the violence of creation through the dark canal into life.
Efo Sela is immersed in a long eclipse- total darkness. It is no longer a fleeting period in his life. It is a time during which he confronts his existence within the bigger cosmos. The sliver of light behind the sun and the diamond ring statically serve as a helpless yet hopeful reminder of things to come.
Confounding science, this long eclipse, disrupts the circadian cycles, rhythms and flows and programmes of human activity. To ground our helplessness, many cultures who associate the darkness with death, doom, negativity find ways to bridge earthly people with the mystic gods who they believe rule the universe. Spirits become conduits between worlds inviting people to pacify the angry gods with rituals, sacrifices and convey messages to draw their attention to the imbalances, injustices and cruelty they may have caused.
Darkness has long been associated with negativity in the world. Expressions like the dark web, dark world, dark forces refer to illegal or nefarious dealings. In Ghana, it’s a colour associated with death. In Christianity, Christ- the saviour- came to shine light into the dark world, He brings salvation because he is a light of all nations. Sela chooses not to escape the inescapable, instead he forces himself into introspection. His eyes are no longer widely shut. What dares to seep through the slits into his subconscious? We are immersed in a rolling movie script of uncontrollable imagery shaped from sculptural figurines from Baule and Senufo people, Yeve religious symbols, adinkra symbols, linguist staffs etc. In a manner not indistinguishable from how obelisks were made by ancient Egyptians, layers of histories, stories, and macabre and androgynous beings sit toe to toe, crying with grief about the future of the world.
He confronts tensions, social unrest, existential threats to our water bodies, soil poisoning and degradation and birth deformities, from a place of darkness, whilst looking out to the calm that beckons, and to the embryonic forms waiting to birth new life and hope.
Ours is to trustingly embrace the violence of creation through the dark canal into life.
Works
