ABOUT ME

I am an Ethiopian artist based in Kigali, Rwanda. I make mixed-media paintings layering found materials with acrylic or oil paint on canvas. My childhood in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, is a significant influence on my work, particularly in the materials I use, but I am sure in many other ways also. I often draw from the elaborate games I used to play with my childhood friends, imitating the adult world around us, with toys we made from wire, cans, and discarded containers.

Manipulating materials I collect from walks of life, including refuse from my own household's consumption, I build color, texture, depth, and detail hoping to invoke a child-like imagination in myself and my audience. My work explores ideas on social and environmental change, which may come violently or peacefully or somewhere in between, and of resilience, themes I have found to be universal across the places I have lived.           

The juxtaposition of a playful process against narratives that can appear serious and heavy runs through my work. My practice is slow and meditative, merging material and brushwork. It is an invitation, to me and to you, to a space of imagination, play, and reflection.

I have a BA in Visual Arts from Brown University along with a BSc in Applied Mathematics and Economics. I also hold an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.