Aristocratic Woman, Monkey, Mask and Orka, 2025

Aristocratic Woman, Mask, Monkey and Orka, 2025
Four hand-cut collages
Xerox photocopies and paint on cartridge paper
42 cm x 59.4 cm, each
These works form part of the Afro Dada collage series, which brings together intertwined histories and intersectional experiences—the remnants of Empire, the pulse of Caribbean lineage, and a yearning for an African heritage rendered broken and fragmented. Afro Dada articulates an artistic philosophy that draws on strategies of play, absurdity, and provocation—hallmarks of Dadaism—not to resolve, but to repossess and confront Britain’s historical amnesia. In this context, disorientation serves as both a creative compass and a framework for critique.
Created publicly during the solo exhibition It Should Not Be Forgotten, Firstsite, 2025, in a gallery space transformed into a working artist’s studio.
Commissioned by Firstsite. Funded by Arts Council England, Firstsite, and Trevor Fenwick. With support from the Royal College of Art.
Exhibition history:
2025 - Firstsite, Colchester. UK
Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.


