Galerie Lelong: Dialogues: Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum with Lauren Haynes

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum's multidisciplinary practice encompasses drawing, painting, installation and animation. Her work emerges from a critical investigation of historical systems of power. The figures and stories in her work stand in resistance to the legacies of these power systems that continue to be used as tools of oppression, exploitation, injustice, and violence. Sunstrum's works make reference to literature, film, theatre, and other forms of storytelling to build an ever-expanding narrative. These ongoing sagas unfold within terrains that appear simultaneously futuristic and ancient: a patchwork of remembered landscapes from her upbringing in places such as Botswana, Canada, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Malawi, South Africa, America, and others. The characters in her work stand as a collective: a nebulous cast in constant flux amidst ever slipping and insufficient notions of self-hood and belonging.

Lauren Haynes is Head Curator, Governors Island Arts and Vice President for Arts and Culture at the Trust for Governors Island in New York City. For over two decades, Haynes has worked to build a more inclusive future for contemporary art through a curatorial practice rooted in community engagement and equity. Her work spans exhibitions, public programs, residencies, and outdoor installations that amplify the voices of Black artists and others often overlooked by mainstream institutions. She found her path to curatorial work through a college work study job at Oberlin’s Allen Memorial Art Museum. That formative experience, along with nearly a decade at the Studio Museum in Harlem shaped her commitment to representation at every level of the art world. Haynes came to Governors Island following a successful stint as Director of Curatorial Affairs and Programs at the Queens Museum and has previously held positions at the Nasher Museum, Crystal Bridges, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Recent projects include Rest/Play (Governors Island, 2025); Jordan Casteel: field of view (Hill Art Foundation, 2024) and Lyle Ashton Harris: Our first and last love (Queens Museum, 2024). Haynes serves on the board of the Association of Art Museum Curators and AAMC Foundation and on the visiting committee for the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. Haynes was a 2018 Center for Curatorial Leadership fellow and a recipient of a 2020 ArtTable New Leadership Award.