Sickbed I – II

Two versions of the same image form the basis of Sickbed I and II: the composition is dominated by a massive bed that almost swallows up the female figure lying in it. The resting figure, a recurring motif in Orupabo’s work, references Ghanaian writer Ayi Kwei Armah’s concept of rest as a survival strategy in response to traumatic events.
All elements in Orupabo’s digital collage are riddled with unresolved contradictions: the figure in bed could be resting, but on closer inspection she appears to be fixed to the bedframe. The visual elements that make Orupabo’s composition are charged with tension highlighting a crucial element of Armah’s idea: that after rest, awakening must follow. With that in mind, the bed itself could be interpreted as a place of comfort and rest; but its oversized proportions seem almost threatening as something one cannot escape from.

“I made different versions of this image. Manipulated it and made it into a negative. Making the lightest areas appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. Turning the black subject into a white subject.” – Frida Orupabo