Chloe Adams

VIRTUAL TOUR

ARTIST CATALOGUE

I Dream of Rest.

“Let no one persuade you to cure his headache until he has first

given you his soul to be cured, for this is the great error of our day

in the treatment of the human body, that physicians separate the soul

from the body.”

Socrates, from Charmides.

My practice explores trauma, healing and rest, with specific focus on the legacy of trauma on the black body and one’s capacity for experiencing rest in a traumatised body. The aim, herein, is to use personal experiences to create a collective reflection on rest and trauma. Practicing rest is essential for communities who have historically been denied this fundamental need. This body of work invites personal and communal healing by emphasizing the connections between space, memory and the body. 

I Dream of Rest creates a space where trauma and fatigue are resituated, outside the body. My process is critical and self-reflective as I investigate memory and the body’s ability to store trauma. In creating a space for trauma without amplifying its voice, I also create an opportunity for the body to find rest. Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance (2022) serves as a foundational reference for the importance of rest for the black body, fatigued by generational trauma, and how rest can act as a form of political resistance.

The body’s ability to remember moments of hurt speaks to its ability to pass down these memories. Generational trauma and fatigue are rooted in my family’s experience as people of colour who have spent their lives in the Cape. In realising this, I have been drawn to exploring rest as reparations and resistance.

This project offers a space for reparative rest, and care for the traumatised body. It acknowledges the impact of trauma and the arduous road to healing it demands. Whilst I hope that the work is understood, it is not necessary for every viewer to connect with it in the same way that I do. Although it is a deeply personal reflection of my own journey towards rest and freedom, it may allow for others to view their trauma in a new, perhaps more hopeful light.