The Matriarch: Unraveled Threads, 2021-2024

Analog photography, screen printing, photo transfer, embroidery on dyed cotton and linen with red earth pigment, acrylic, paper, steel  

Dyed with the distinctive and highly fertile red ferralitic soil found in the highlands region of West Cameroon The Matriarch: Unravelled Threads is made of more than 300 recycled linen and cotton panels repurposed from Mallory Lowe Mpoka’s family’s sewing workshop in Douala.

Mpoka intricately intertwines and rearranges self-portraits with ancestral photographic archives, crafting a poignant exploration that weaves past and present, providing insight into the intricate web of personal and collective memory. 

Following her grandmother's passing in 2023, Mpoka was appointed as her successor and the new family matriarch. Summoning the essence of Mousgoum and Sudano-Sahelian Indigenous architecture, akin to the Great Mosque of Djenne in Timbuktu, The Matriarch adopts the form of a lighthouse as a symbol of imparting wisdom and offering guidance, inviting viewers to converge around its luminous aura.