FF Projects is pleased to announce J’ai vu des choses que j’ai imaginées (I saw things I imagined), Rachel Marsil’s first solo exhibition in Nigeria, and the second presentation within FF Projects’ year-long residency at Alara Lagos. Opening during Lagos Gallery Weekend, this exhibition charts an 18 month period between 2024 and 2025, during which the artist turned her attention to the interior lives of her ever-present female figures.
In I saw things I imagined, for perhaps the first time, Marsil’s subjects are decidedly located in Africa, specifically West Africa. A distinct duality lies at the heart of this series; seeing and imagining, interior and exterior, the singular and the multiple, Europe and West Africa. There are motifs across these works that will be familiar to those that reside on the continent. The Monobloc chair appears in Un espace a nous, which although not African in origin, is a mainstay of African gatherings.
Marsil’s focus on design in these paintings is intentional, it signals a move from the exterior to the interior. From the intentional and posed works inspired by studio photographers, to the inner worlds of her subjects. Imagining what they might do within the confines of their own homes. This series also reflects her own journey into Africa, and how what began as an observational and curious practice, evolved into a welcoming community that she was decidedly part of. People opened up their homes, and she was allowed to enter. As such, these works allow a glimpse into what happens when you cross the boundary of diasporic imagination into local reality. In many of these paintings, the subject wraps their arms around themselves, in an embrace of self, a coming to, an acceptance.
Of course, these are just suggestions, because ultimately, the expressions of Marsil’s characters do not change. Each figure is treated with the same alien-esque facial structure; a sharp jawline extends from a rounded out head. They all share elongated noses that stretch into eyebrows, full lips and closed, feline eyes. If expression is conveyed, we can’t see it. And that is intentional. The artist prefers what she describes as a sort of “facelessness”, that allows the viewer to project their own emotions onto the characters. She regards her subjects as a mirror, or as judgement-free friends.
As part of FF Projects’ residency at Alára, the show bears witness to Marsil’s artistic development over the course of the past two years. She has always experimented in real time, absorbing influences and references and bringing them into her own world. The exhibition takes its title from a song by Solange Knowles, in which she gently recites “I saw things I imagined”, repeatedly, like an incantation. It is a song that Marsil loves, but also one that she deeply relates to, and one that represents a full circle moment. For her undergraduate degree show, in textile arts, she titled her presentation J’imagine le soleil, in English, I imagine the sun. At that point, she had not yet travelled to West Africa to explore her father’s land, and she could only dream of what it would be like. Now, several years later, having travelled to and exhibited her work across several countries in West Africa, rather than observe from afar, she can now look outward from within the gates. A coming of age. She saw things she imagined.
