Géraldine Tobe (b. 1992, Kinshasa, DRC) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice interrogates trauma, ancestral spirituality, and the lingering legacies of colonialism. A graduate of the Institut des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa (2012), Tobe initially rejected traditional painting, turning instead to fire and smoke as her primary mediums. Her unique technique—painting with soot from oil lamps—materializes her confrontation with childhood trauma, particularly experiences of being accused of witchcraft and subjected to exorcism rituals. Through these ephemeral materials, she explores the interplay between the corporeal and the metaphysical.

Her work critically engages with the ethnographic gaze, centering the role of the church in colonial history and its disruption of indigenous belief systems. Tobe’s canvases merge African masks with spectral, fragmented bodies, creating a visual language that evokes both pain and transcendence. In addition to her studio practice, she founded Losa, an arts initiative in Kinshasa offering therapeutic workshops for psychiatric patients. Her work has garnered international acclaim, notably at the 2018 Dakar Biennial, and has been exhibited in Brussels, Madagascar, and upcoming in The True Size of Africa at Völklinger Hütte, Germany.

Source: AFIKARIS