Contact Zone

Contact Zone is an exploration of intersubjectivity, that is, the junctions between people, their
sentiments and sensibilities, and the perspective from which they see the world. Mapping this
layered and varying narratives of thought and action, Contact Zone is an alignment of the material
and the spiritual, in which artistic impulse marries technical research, forming a
non-linear, simultaneous and sporadic environment of active cultural development. Through their
own unique interior language- Oluwole Omofemi, Elfreda Dali, and Blebo- all embody a
recognition of authorship; the knowing that their work is both a preservation of the individual self
and a conservation of collective identity. In this reunion of states, their work extends beyond the
visual lens and requires a reconciliation of the past.

Oluwole Omofemi distinguishes his volumetric silhouettes by subtly imbuing them with a narrative
charge that encourages the viewer to consume not the character, but instead their existence. In
turn, his portraits remain an authentic celebration of humanity, where creativity and courage are
unified into a singular critical sensitivity. The temporal ambiguity of Omofemi’s work is evidence of
both his acute memory from sight but also a willingness to transcend the boundaries of the present
and give life to the rich possibilities of the future. This longitudinal dialogue- between time, place,
and being- radiates an encyclopaedic knowledge of self.

Elfreda Dali invites us to use the boundless geography of the imagination to broaden our
understanding of the right to language and self-articulation- in essence, the independence of our
sensory modalities as active participants in providing alternative topographies, where
vulnerability and transformation may take place. In her Seeds of Becoming series, Dali offers a
spatial interpretation of how the viewer can recognise the synthesis between the landscape and
the self, both bodies metaphorically coming together and falling apart, in a continuous dance of
tension and renewal. For Dali, we are not rigid representations of an idea but creatively elastic
entities, fracturing and refiguring elements of ourselves, ever-evolving.

Blebo examines the lyrical form of abstraction in accordance with the guiding principles of nature,
producing alchemical emulations of human complexity. These melodic drawings, expanding and
contracting in a poetic rhythm of flow and unfolding, serve as visual typographies of ecological
laws. Each line, with its own energetic diversity, cooperates with another in order to create a final
outcome. Imperfection and impermanence become the formal tools of function. Thus, Blebo’s
images are universal considerations of our cyclical environment and the capacity to learn from it
by cultivating our curiosity.

Contact Zone is the nuanced space readily available for engagement, where the transference of
experience and knowledge synergistically form to create something new.