africanah.org

Arena for Contemporary African, African-American and Caribbean Art

Engdaye Lemma

Eng20194

 

Engdaye Lemma

Untitled, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

About

I was born in Dessie ( Ethiopia ) 1980 E.C I had received my BFA from Addis Ababa university school of fine art and design in 2007 E.C , in printmaking currently I am assistant lecturer at ( AAU ) Alle school of fine arts and design . I exhibited my works on different group exhibitions and participated on workshops that highly focus on print making. Most of my works most of the time are mixed media, (marbling, silk screen and collage) by combining this techniques I try to express many time less, unbound flexible concepts.

Eng20196

Untitled, 2019

Eng20195

Untitled, 2019

 

Art statement

Much of my works are inspired by my home town in north Ethiopia near the ancient building of Lalibela ( Lasta Lalibela ).Lalibela was one of the great civilization witch emerge after the great Axum civilization, and the building was built in the 12th century. To this day the world has registered it among the most amazing and must see places around the world. know a days this pleace is add with poor people, jealous guarded and conflicted waking only in the shadow of their ancestors work .I look for meaning and answers for the unplugged civilization from the past to glean glimpses in to lives past and in to perspectives of reality of what was and present situations.in my opinion the only standing things as an evidence for those great civilizations are the buildings witch are still powerfully standing till this day.

Eng20193

Untitled, 2019

Eng2017

Untitled, 2017

Eng20172

The time interval between shelters witch is the exact time they were built and time they become aged.in this case the focuses will include both the inside and outside parts. These shelters are the metaphorical forms I use for the presentation of society as well as allowing us a glimpse in to the lives of strangers in general. This houses experience both natural and man-made changes time to time witch express the contemporary believe, historical background and routine of one’s society and also economic, political process add with cultural and religious believe and new circumstances, results are the conceptual elements I use to create the movements of every pic.

The making of Art is an act of navigation maneuvering through the waves of life with any technic you can think of and in this case collage and limitless experiments are the ones I use as long as I can find the exact output witch I need. Observing the environments, the direction of the current and the pull of an inner voice telling me witch way to go. Experimenting is a fine balance between analysis and intuition of visionary surprise of revelation of unexpected heart thumping recognition of something much greater than my tiny human self. I believe that are make living in the world more conscious Art illumines the unbearable past, present and future beauty and the unbearable past, present and future cruelty of time and the human experience. I look for connections in my works between ancient and new. The towns I create often raises questions I have, memories I carry from the past and the things I observe know.

The houses over lapping in one another creating their own entrance and exit, the paint of the walls, the similarities of the forms and styles, the shared walls with two different doors shows the ideal living but still similar life style, which shows that the past, present and future of others viewed through my present.

I approach my art making as an opportunity to embark on a journey to open doorways and to walk along that fine line that separates the visible and invisible world.