A woman wrapped in golden embroidered cloth and beads, her hair whipped across her face, sits beneath an arch of verdant leaves and blooming flowers. The night sky behind her twinkles with stars, her skin glistens in the moonlight. Passion Flower, South African artist Kimathi Mafafo’s solo exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin, explores nature not just as a physical space, but as an embodied experience, shaped by sensation, connection and care. 

 

The show’s title references a specific species of tropical flower which is depicted in the works and which was first introduced to the artist by her late grandmother for its calming and restorative properties. The flower’s name and form are also symbolic to Mafafo of a heightened bodily and emotional awareness. Across her works, the vivid colour of the flower’s petals and tendrils evokes an otherworldly, almost cosmic presence, which is also reminiscent of antennas or satellite dishes – transmitters or receivers of messages. In the non-figurative works, in particular, they become stand-ins for the body emerging from lush, tangled foliage.

 

This shift away from portraiture to abstract still-lifes and landscape scenes marks a broader evolution in Mafafo’s practice towards more sculptural works in which the fabric itself takes on a bodily presence. This is articulated through the varied embroidery techniques that Mafafo uses, with some details – such as the flowers and leaves – precisely rendered, while elsewhere threads tangle, loop and fray. Heavily worked, the final piece hangs loosely from the wall, as if reaching out into the space that surrounds it.