Through his painting, Patrick Quarm investigates the constantly evolving concept of the contemporary African, and how events of the past inform the circumstances of the present. Born and raised in Ghana, Quarm moved to the United States to earn his MFA in 2015. Living and working in a new cultural environment saw an identity shift in the artist and his practice, whereby a hybrid identity emerged, and prevailing narratives became questioned. Quarm’s preoccupations delve into histories and the idea of what and who is new, how does the new evolve over time, and how remnants of the past linger in the present. The subject of his paintings are friends, family and colleagues who also share culturally complex hybridity in their backgrounds. The artist paints on African print fabrics which are selected for their politically charged associations as well as their specific cultural and global exchange references. His process involves layering, glueing, cutting and erasing the fabric which are then spatially arranged atypically, thereby actings as engaging three-dimensional topographies and viewfinders. Quarm lives and works between Ghana and the United States.