01/20/2025
At deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Zohra Opoku’s Self-Portraits seamlessly blend art and nature, and Makepeace was proud to help bring this vision to life. From a large billboard to hidden smaller signs, the exhibit immerses visitors in Opoku’s exploration of identity and culture. To learn more about this collaboration, we spoke with the deCordova team about the exhibit and the process behind it.
1. Could you share a brief overview of the exhibit and what makes it stand out?
Zohra Opoku works primarily with textiles, photography, and printmaking to explore themes of identity and self-fashioning, particularly in connection to her Ghanian culture. Shown on a large-scale billboard and five smaller signs throughout deCordova’s Sculpture Park, Opoku’s Self-Portraits present the artist posed with her face partially covered by different plants. Opoku describes how the project started: “I was at an artist residency in Berkeley at the Kala Institute, and I ended up having more conversations with the landscapes around there and looking at myself. I was very intrigued by the fact that most of the plants are actually not from that area. They were immigrants, like me.”
Shown throughout the Sculpture Park, visitors discover Opoku’s photographs immersed and protected within deCordova’s varied environment of native and non-native plants. The artist wanted the five smaller photographs to be tucked into the landscape, like a scavenger hunt. She lives in Accra, Ghana, so we collaborated with her on these concepts, materials, and their placements virtually.
2. Were there any particular challenges encountered during the planning or ex*****on of the exhibit?
We needed to mount the photographs in a way that was physically secure, but didn’t interfere with the photographs themselves. Makepeace developed the simple, yet brilliant solution of adding a few extra inches of material to the sides and bending it so we could secure the images to wooden posts without screwing through the front of the photographs.
Given these are works of art, image quality and durability outdoors are of the upmost importance. Beth Alvarez did a great job working with us, advising on file sizes, and helping us with proofs so we could get the right image quality.
3. How did Makepeace help you achieve your vision for this exhibit?
When we first approached Makepeace, we weren’t sure exactly what would be the best method or material to use to bring the artist’s vision to life. Beth Alvarez made a site visit, shared samples with us, and talked us through the pros and cons of our options. Our thinking on the best approach did take some twists and turns throughout the process, but Beth did a fantastic job listening and responding to our needs. She brought a superb level of care and attention to detail to the project.
4. Are there any major takeaways from this project that you'd like to highlight?
We appreciated that Makepeace was willing to brainstorm solutions to the challenges we faced with this installation. We were so pleased that we could deliver the artist’s vision of presenting her stunning photographs outdoors instead of on the white walls of an indoor gallery. It is also exciting that we could work with an artist of Zohra’s caliber without needing to ship her artworks from Africa. Producing these photographs through Makepeace allows to us to present the work of international artists within our local landscape.
5. Is there anything upcoming at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum that you'd like to mention?
We are excited to share a group outdoor exhibition titled Nature Sanctuary is coming to the Sculpture Park in June 2025. The deCordova is a place of co-habitation, shared among people, art, flora, and fauna. Nature Sanctuary draws upon this co-existence through art installations that explore evocative ideas and aesthetic approaches to the concept of “nature as home”. The exhibition is framed by deCordova’s former identity as a family home as well as the museum’s integration within The Trustees, a land conservation organization where the term “nature sanctuary” relates to the preservation of animal and plant life. The exhibition features the work of half a dozen contemporary female artists, and will include these artworks by Zohra Opoku.
Partnering with deCordova to realize Zohra Opoku’s vision was an exciting challenge. To ensure the artwork harmonized with the natural environment and stood up to outdoor conditions, we printed on 3m weather-resistant vinyl (3M™ Scotchcal™ Graphic Film IJ35), applied a 3M surface lamination (3M™ Scotchcal™ Overlaminate 8510), and then mounted to aluminum composite material (ACM, commonly known as DiBond and MaxMetal) – a lightweight and durable substrate. We PMS matched colors using the Pantone spot color system to get an exact color match and used our router cutter to add grooves to the ACM to wrap the rigid substrate around posts. All of these techniques combined to create the desired seamless effect of portraits that blend into the environment.
We’re honored to have been part of this inspiring project and congratulate deCordova on an exceptional exhibit!
Photos:
1. Zohra Opoku (b. 1976, lives and works in Accra, Ghana), Cyperus Papyrus from Self-Portraits series, 2015-ongoing, wood, aluminum composite, Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). Photo by Mel Taing .ltaing
2. Zohra Opoku (b. 1976, lives and works in Accra, Ghana), Pyracantha from Self-Portraits series, 2016-ongoing, wood, aluminum composite, Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). Photo by Mel Taing
3. Zohra Opoku (b. 1976, lives and works in Accra, Ghana), Rhododendron from Self-Portraits series, 2016-ongoing, wood, aluminum composite, Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). Photo by Mel Taing
4. Zohra Opoku (b. 1976, lives and works in Accra, Ghana), Ficus Carica from Self-Portraits series , 2015-ongoing, wood, aluminum composite, Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). Photo by Mel Taing
See this article here: https://www.asg-companies.com/case-study-decordova-sculpture-park-zohra-opokus-self-portraits
