PAN 2018

This sculpture, PAN, was made by Yinka Shonibare, but I don’t know exactly when. PAN is a figure covered head-to-toe in patterned fabric, which I would say is red and cyan, with swirling motifs – the fabric itself is doing the talking. The figure is headless but instead of a head has a globe on top of its neck. I can imagine Shonibare choosing the fabric. I wonder what he was thinking when he made the sculpture? Was he exploring the relationship between the body, place, and identity? I suppose he might have wanted to make a piece that speaks of global interconnectedness and cultural hybridity. I love that the patterned fabric has its own texture, creating an emotional resonance. And the headless figure is the artist saying something about the fragmentation of identity. Artists are always in conversation, responding to one another, and to ideas, across time. For me, art is a form of expression that embraces ambiguity. There are multiple ways to see it and that’s the beauty of it.