‘Between Wood and Wheel’ - Christina Kimeze’s roller skating inspired art encourages us to move, feel and dream.

Peckham Road was waking up and preparing for a new day. Fruit and vegetables were arranged uniformly in punnets lining the pavement, being blessed by the winter sun. South London Gallery felt uncharacteristically calm in comparison to the rest of Peckham. In the main gallery, the museum Director, Margot, gave us a brief summary of Christina Kimeze’s work. This is the artist’s first solo show in the UK. Previously, her work has featured in group shows in London, as well as in Paris and Italy. We’re told that her studio is only a few blocks down the road. I imagined what a full circle moment this must be for her; her work being displayed and celebrated in the city she grew up in. In the city she very well could have dreamt up these images. 

The work has been curated in a way that democratises the space. Every canvas has space around it, giving each piece of art the space to breathe. It gives us a chance to stand and take each canvas in one at a time without peripheral distraction. The shapes, lines and colours on each canvas demand our attention, and draw us in.

The title of the exhibition Between Wood and Wheel is part of a line from the poem Night at the Roller Palace by January Gill O’Neil. ‘You are the spark between wood and wheel’ - enabling us to trace the inspiration for this work to its source. Kimeze’s subject matter was heavily influenced by the resurgence of rollerskating in Black communities, both in the UK and for our cousins in the US. “I wanted to capture something of the feeling of being in a rink, with lots of people moving in different directions, cutting across you” say’s Kimeze. In the rink, you’re an individual but part of a larger moving organism. Emphasising the importance of community, shared interest and communal experiences of joy, the work positions movement as a catalyst for freedom and flight. 

There is an almost spiritual quality to these latest pieces. Kimeze had been reading Women who Fly: Goddesses, Witches, Mystics and other Airborne Females; she described the feeling of a magical out of body experience when dancing “It’s the feeling you have when your body stays on the ground, but your soul is flying”. Movement is the catalyst for euphoria. Whether you’re running, roller skating, or dancing, moving our bodies has the power to transcend the physical. Movement allows us access to a state of being that feels celestial, catapulting us out of the confines of our reality into the realm of possibilities.

Kimeze’s work plays with perspective and challenges our perception of proximity and distance. There are instances when figures in the background dominate the canvas compared to those in the foreground. Some figures have arms outstretched, expanding their reach. Kimeze described “trying to elongate the body and create this sense of uplift” as a visual reference to the feminist writers who “have talked about a sense of feeling tall.” Other figures take their time to emerge from the canvas, the longer our eyes linger, the more figures we identify. The larger pieces of work are moody, almost dreamlike. They prompt us to imagine how our bodies move, extend, and linger in spaces that encourage self expression. 

The work coaxes us to use our imagination. To fill in the gaps and supply detail to the outlines that Kimeze gently offers us. Shadowy figures and impressions require us to interpret the scene for ourselves. This, in addition to the scale of the canvases, creates an immersive feeling. Kimeze persuades us to use our perspective and explore our own inner world by diving into the scenes our mind’s eye conjures up based on our experiences and memory. 

There is something that speaks to the hard edges and soft curves of memory. Sometimes hazy. Sometimes visceral. Kimeze explores the broader idea that two conflicting things can be true at once. “It speaks to the more universal ideas that I’m exploring with the work, of sitting between two things, to states of being and atomising the self” the reference to wood and wheel “evokes two different, somewhat competing, things” the artist reflects. It is captured in the blurred shapes and hard lines Kimeze uses. She often implies a scene, grounding us in a physical space. For example, arches that imply architecture, or trees that imply landscape, but the interpretation of the scene is left up to us.

The work feels relatable. Each piece provides enough to set the scene but leaves enough for us to fill in the gaps. It’s almost interactive. The work entices us to reflect on similar experiences or memories we might have. Each of us relating in a different way, for a different reason, but still being able to relate. In this sense, there’s a feeling of familiarity.

The work shows us that our positive, joyful, and even mundane experiences can be valued as art. A perspective that is under represented in many ways, especially in representations of the inner lives of members of Black communities, specifically Black women. Kimeze’s work prompts us to look inwards and romanticise. A detail of the gallery Director’s summary that lingered in my mind after I left, and stayed with me long after I made my way out of Peckham, was that Kimeze created constantly from a young age. Kimeze’s practice shows us that creativity in its many forms, including art, is an integral part of the human experience. Although it has been commodified and capitalised, ultimately, it’s a mode of expression that is a crucial part of being human. Kimeze’s work embodies this notion - the way we perceive our experiences and inner worlds, is art.

Words by Dominique Gabrielle

Visit the exhibition at South London Gallery