Tschabalala Self: Seated
Visitors encounter Tschabalala Self’s monumental sculpture Seated on the lawn of the De La Warr Pavilion, facing out towards the ocean. The work evokes the acts of resting, reflection and leisure that are part of DLWP’s coastal setting, celebrating the simple joy and significance of taking a seat.
Self’s expansive practice brings together painting, printmaking, sculpture and collage, with depictions predominantly focused on women. Black and femme bodies are particularly prevalent, represented through individual, powerful characters often reimagined from chance encounters.
Through meditations on race and gender, Self explores what it means to flourish as a human and how identity is performed and perceived in contemporary life. Seated speaks to the strength, beauty and self-possession of women and to the power of gestures that assert the right to take up space. The sculpture was commissioned by Avant Arte and produced by Factum Arte.