Grace Remondo Verified listing

The Alchemy of Resilience

​My work exists at the intersection of photography and physical intervention. As a Gabonese artist based in Cape Town, I explore the silent journey of survivors of Gender-Based Violence, moving beyond the "fracture" toward a state of empowered presence.

​I utilize the Kintsugi philosophy—the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold—as a metaphor for the human spirit. In my "The Rebuilt Horizon" series, I physically tear my archival prints and re-stitch them with gold thread. This act of "mending" acknowledges that while we cannot return to who we were before the trauma, we can integrate our history into a new, stronger, and more beautiful geography.

​The use of salt crystallization over the spine and limbs of the figures represents the biological weight of healing. Just as salt preserves and cleanses, it also creates a crystalline "scar" that catches the light. By infusing these crystals with golden ochre pigments, I visualize the moment where pain is transformed into value.

​My goal is to move the viewer from a place of witnessing "absence" to celebrating the "undeniable presence" of the survivor who stands tall, looking toward the future while claiming her space and her history.

Theme & Inspiration: The Rebuilt Horizon

My work explores the "Geography of Healing," navigating the silent spaces left by Gender-Based Violence and the tactile process of reclaiming them. This series follows a deliberate narrative arc from forced fragmentation to empowered restoration.

The journey begins with "Waiting for the Word," representing a stagnant "Absence." Here, silence is a manifestation of societal pressure—the weight of shame that compels the survivor to remain quiet before the vastness of the ocean. The "wait" exists on two levels: the survivor’s internal desire to speak, held in tension against a world that demands her silence, and her patient longing to finally hear the "golden" words of validation and justice from that same society.

This transition moves into the internal shift in "Christallized Quiet," where the preservation of memory begins. In both this piece and "Lifted," the survivor’s posture lifts her from the weight of the past toward a time of transformation. By using hand-applied golden hues and salt to physically "mend" the portrait, I mirror the Kintsugi philosophy: that a repaired spirit holds more value than one that has never been broken.

"Kintsugi" serves as the culmination of this journey. The survivor stands tall, claiming her history. By physically tearing the photograph and sewing it back together with gold thread, I mirror the resilience required to become whole—a monograph of a woman who has integrated her scars into an empowered presence. Finally, "The Rebuilt Horizon" brings a message of hope. The survivor is integrated back into the landscape—not as she was, but as a new, luminous reality stitched together with strength.

Professional Highlights: Grace Remondo

• International Publication: Selected Artist for the 101 Art Book: Photography Edition (2026) and the Women in Arts international collective.
• Curatorial Selection: Curated by Lena Snow for the Goddess Arts Gallery (Germany, 2026) for the series The Rebuilt Horizon.
• Archival Recognition: Work selected for the permanent digital archive of the Women’s Photography Festival (Athens, Greece). Chosen from 429 international submissions for future screenings and festival programming curated by Penelope Petsini and Eleni Mouzakiti.
• Author & Publisher: Published the landmark photobook, The Rebuilt Horizon: An Inventory of Absence and Light (November 2025), exploring the intersection of the GBV crisis and restorative light.
• Educational Leadership: Dedicated mentor and coach at the Bloubergrant High School Photography Club, empowering youth through visual storytelling.

The Rebuilt Horizon: The Zwezhile Archive

In this body of work, Remondo expands her Kintsugi-inspired practice to the social geography of Zwezhile (Hermanus). By applying the physical acts of tearing, crumpling, and stitching to street photography, she maps the scars of Apartheid and the weight of the GBV crisis onto the urban landscape. This "mending" of the photograph symbolizes the urgent need for community reconstruction, using gold thread to visualize a path from systemic neglect toward a reclaimed, luminous future.