Fremah’s approach to this body of work ” Mess of Beautiful Chaos ” expresses a genuine interest in interior, spaces, colour, architecture and the prediction of a spatial future.

The Book, African Modernism first published in 2015 and edited by Manuel Herz,Ingrid Schröder, Hans Focketyn and Julia Jamrozik was an attempt to study and archive Architecture in selected West African countries, Ghana included. Through photography, the book explores cities like Accra, Dakar and Abidjan pointing out the unique Architecture and design that developed in the 1950s and 60s post-independence exploring the close nature between Architecture and national identity. Featuring 100 buildings, the images showcase the significant change in African Architecture as countries and cities attempted to build their own identity and sense of self and space doing away with colonial architecture and branching into one of their own. The photographs represented the buildings in their present state while offering its audience a chance to interpret it how they want at the backdrop of the histories of

these buildings that are both explicit and in explicit.

For Fremah, this body of work draws inspiration from this attempt focusing on significant landmarks in Accra and merging an interpretation of its current state with a more futuristic prediction of these same spaces. Mess of Beautiful chaos allows the artiste to question the identity and uniqueness of space and how it is used inviting the audience to get lost in the mesmerizing abstract forms which may form meaning or identity out of memory or feel familiar or unfamiliar yet recognizable.

The chaos of Accra’s landscape is questioned and brought to life through the abstractness of these paintings which question the normalcy that comes out of spaces that exist and must be navigated through, and the beauty that lies within the historical memories of these spaces while the human mind also attempts to identify these spaces. The work questions the control of space by humans and how these same spaces control navigation around it.

At first glance the works portray simple lines and shapes that come together to form meaning as interior design or an expression of how contemporary Ghanaians take up space and architecture though design and order. Layered under this however is the significance of architecture, archives and research that have all come together to create Mess of a Beautiful Chaos.

The artist, who’s works over the years have been an experiment to find her voice and joy in art expression comes to a level of maturity and significance through this body of work that still allows her to portray her sense of playfulness and colourfulness while finding meaning in the lines and figures seen in the work that express historical, archival and spatial significance.

Fremah embarked on this project with the curiosity of spatial navigation and perspective and in addition how these same spaces determine movement and adaptation by its inhabitants. In essence, her approach was to gain aerial shots and photographs of places like Ashaiman Charcoal field, Tema Under-bridge and the very controversial building of the National Cathedral. The examining of these spaces moved beyond the idea of the buildings as inhabitants of the space they occupy to and in-depth look into how history affects the way these spaces re viewed and inhabited as well as how current movement will shape the use of these spaces.

Pondering on the painting Easy Route, Frema questions the use of the Tema Under-bridge for instance and how it has transformed into a movement space for humans when it was originally created for animals. This then suggests the question of its use in the very near future. The bigger questions of if these spaces will even exist at all is also brought to life through Mating Lake which continues to change with time and Promise Land which is a prediction of the uncertainty of spaces now and in the near future.

Again, in-depth research of spaces and archives led the artist to discover the relationship between the city and its architecture questioning the constant uprise and downfall of buildings to suit the fast-paced nature of its changing environment. The viewer as much as the artist is left with the question of what this mean for memory and archives and the way space is occupied first by architecture then its inhabitants and quickly removed to make way for the new.

These archives, mainly from her grandfather A. A Mensah’s collection (Architect and Constructor from the early 60s through to 80s) are put in conversation with her new photographs and aerial shots which are in themselves archives to birth this body of work which then raise more questions and explore how art can make these conversations and findings more accessible and reachable beyond the walls of institutions and preserved archives only limited to a few.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Fremah’s body of work is the confident use of colours that burst out from the lines and spaces that somehow distort what would have been perfect lines and objects. These question the murkiness that lies within the vibrant spaces and their histories as well as the future of it all. They also remind the viewer that this is in fact, first and foremost art before anything else and allows one to consume its beauty before drowning within the chaos of thoughts and questions that may arise.

The city the artist navigates is beautiful on the outside, bubbling with modernity and a normalcy at first glance however a deeper look exposes histories of loss, abandonment and unease as the spaces become less easy to accommodate and adapt to by its own users. This is all brought to life in Mess of Beautiful Chaos.

The Promise Land
Acrylic on canvas, oil pastel, Dried Paint | 144.5cm x 144.5cm 2024

Baby Steps
Acrylic on canvas, Oil pastel | 203cm x 168cm 2024

Room Of Attraction
Acrylic on canvas, oil pastel | 89cm x 99cm 2024

Morning Chaos
Acrylic on canvas, Dried paint | 89cm x 99cm 2024

Gift From A Lover
Acrylic on canvas, oil pastel | 80cm x 103cm 2024

Green Hill
Acrylic on canvas, Oil pastel | 99cm x 106.5cm 2024