Artists Torkwase Dyson and Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum live fearlessly in the world as it is, in a state of becoming, where visual culture elides with visual metaphor, and dragons appear as domineering specters of globalized adaptation and alter egos journey bravely through landscapes that are a fusion of myth and autobiographical make-believe.

Dyson, Media Artist in Residence at American University, exhibits nationally and internationally, presents Here Be Dragons, a collection of wall installations, animations and sound design that are dizzying, visionary and political, as if Sun Ra and Chuck D got together with Fela Kuti to make art. Dubbing her practice “The Black Eco Imagination,” Dyson up-cycles bulk goods such as cotton t-shirts, solar panels, belt buckles, earring cards and plastic to address environmental reform alongside economic justice, underground economies, and black visual culture.

Rooted in drawing, but ranging to installation and animation, Pamela Sunstrum charts the hero-quest of her alter-ego Asme (pronounced “AZ-mee”) who embodies selves that are trans-cultural, trans-historical, trans-geographical. In my skin of mirrors and clouds, Asme ventures into the underworld, where the outlines of her being are porous and unfamiliar. Sunstrum was born in Mochudi, Botswana and grew up living in Africa and Southeast Asia. Currently, she is a Resident Artist at The Patterson, exhibiting both nationally and internationally and teaching at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

On Thu Dec 3, Dyson and Sunstrum share an evening in the theater, presenting solo works that combine performance, installation, puppetry, video and animation. Click here for more info!