Eyob Art blog

The Seven Days of Creation

This new piece of mine will have alternating glass areas and mosaic tile wall panels. Each panel measures approximately 23ft high x 7ft wide. There will be a total of eight panels. The theme, The Seven Days of Creation, will be expressed in abstract. The design is already selected by the church, Our Saviors Lutheran Church, and the whole piece is still under major development. One of the best things about this piece is that, like Genesis, it is great for incorporating into graphics, oil paint and even relief. This is one of the latest projects I am doing for 2009.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

You may click on the image to see the entire painting!

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March 6th Trolley Tour and More...

 

 

                                         

                                                                                     Rhythm of Jazz

            After roughly three years, I have finally got the opportunity to move my studio downtown again. For personal reasons, I had used the studio to escape from the public and do art for myself, developing different aspects of my technique and idea. Nevertheless, most of my time spent confined was great and I believe that it has opened more doors for me to work with other professionals such as Perspective Inc. For the next two years, I am planning to work with them in different projects and collaborations in hopes that their architectural influence and concepts might be incorporated within my own art. It will be a fun year!

            Herewith, the March 6^th Sioux Falls Trolley Tour is approaching soon and some of my pieces will be displayed throughout the Perspective Inc. building starting at 5:30 P.M.  My exhibit will differ from my past in that I will be displaying much more drawings and sketches than paintings. As an artist, when I look at my paintings, I try to see them through the eyes of potential viewers which allows me to truly judge the sincere skill of my work. Thus, I believe that paint alone cannot make a piece beautiful, but the skill of the composition, sketch and drawing that is in its backbone.

            Personally, my goal is not to be a famous or “great” person but to leave behind a legacy that is not defined by who I am but of the skill of my art. Though art may change according to time and place, the reason behind its existence will always remain. It exposes yet has the potential to guide the culture and era that produced it. Therefore, I want, not my identity, to be kept within changing time but the existence and concept of art as a language.  

            Also, one of the most beautiful instrumental artists, Nebiyu Kebede from Washington D.C has decided to cover his latest album with one of my paintings, The Vine of Axum. His music is inspirational and serves as a language itself though now words are used. The whole album is a great experience and unlike any other type of music. 

            In addition, I wanted to thank Carl Grupp and Rob Robinson for the comments they made in the PBS documentary that aired earlier January.

Welcoming The Year 2009!

 

 

     

                                                                  

                                                                   Alpha and Omega

 

             For me, 2008 was not a productive year; however, I have witnessed a lot of progress within my work as it had matured. I have put a lot of focus and emphasize on the concept of Axum, as in the painting above, with cultural design in which I have learned a lot about myself as an artist and began to see my identity protrude out of a long process of incorporating Axumite designs.Since I started alot of my artwork, within the last ten years, on a realistic and modern perspective, my main focus is to now incorporate those perspectives into the ancient and iconic history of Ethiopian Christian Art. However, Although I have focused on the concept of  Axum for the last 5 years, I am still planning to remain there for the years to come.  All this will be for the Augustana College solo show in 2010.

            In addition, I will be featured in is a PBS documentary film on art in my life. This film will also include the students, teachers and other critics as they comment on my work. The programs and times of when the episode airs will be included in the PBS link above. I am anticipating a very good outcome on the film and believe that it is a good way to listen on what others think about my work. It will be fun!

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The Obelisk of Axum

                       

                        The Spirit of Axum

This drawing is one of the pieces displayed from the Axum series at the new Black Sheep Coffee House on North Cliff and Benson. This new Black Sheep will be a permanent place for my pieces.

Background

 

            Axum, or Aksum, is a city in northern Ethiopia named after the Kingdom of Aksum, a naval and trading power that ruled from the region ca. 400 BC into the 10^th century. The kingdom was occasionally referred to in medieval writings as “ Ethiopia”. It was the centre of the (eventual) Christian marine trading power the Aksumite Kingdom, which predated the earliest mentions in Roman era writings (around the time of the birth of Jesus) in good correlation to the expansion of Rome into northern Africa, and later when it developed into the Christian kingdom, was a quasi-ally of Byzantium against the day’s Persian Empire. The historical record is unclear, primary sources being in the main limited to ancient church records. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant or tabot in Axum. The object is now kept under guard in a treasury near the Church or tabot in Axum. The object is now kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, and used occasionally in ritual processions. But versions of the Aksum

tabot are kept in every Ethiopian church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint, most popularly Mary, George and Michael. It has been plausibly suggested that the claim that the Aksum tabot is the real thing.

Concept

            These paintings were done under the inspiration of the Byzantine Art period. Also, it was inspired by the return of the after 71 years from the Italian government or the Obelisk of Axum. This awakened a strong nationalistic movement in the Ethiopian people. This is why it is like a new period art for me as a an artist. It's funny because The Italian Government thought it a victory after stealing it from Ethiopia. This would be the equivelent of us taking the Mona Lisa from Italy and rejoicing over it. It does not make much sense. However, the reason why I chose this concept is because I believe it is crucial to understand and express my roots that are apart of my artistic identity. I used many elements in this series including the 300 B.C architect movement which I took this and started to incorporate it into my artwork progressing it into a new level and perspective. Most of the paintings are based on Christian symbolic elements that are mixed into my paintings creating a language in art form. This form has layers that build on each other to convey a message to the inward parts of a human soul with the use of symbolic religious elements. There are many more religious pieces on the site.

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Vine of Axum

 

 

 

            This is the last painting I painted on the concept of Axum. However, I am interested in using elements of Axum in my future paintings because they are apart of my artistic techniques. Basically, I will not be evolving the concept of Axum but taking the elements from it and incorporate it into other ideas.

            This painting is different from any other painting because I used the medium of oil paint and used it to make it look like watercolor. I have also created it using pastel colors to make it look more like a drawing. This was the challenging part but it is also the same part that gives the painting its quality.

            The circles, birds, Axum, and the leaves represent my personal ambitions and pride I have for Ethiopia but in an abstract way. As a verb, “to abstract” means to take from, to extract the essence of a thing or idea. In a basic sense, of course, all art is abstract because it is not possible for the artist to reproduce exactly what is seen. Other good examples of abstract artists include: William De Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn and Lee Bontecou. Nevertheless, abstract cannot be naturally in you but it is something that needs to be developed over time as a language.

Invisible and Visible

                      

         

              This is a depiction of a memory and dream infused together in my mind. The circles represent an element of Ethiopian traditional that have been changed into a modern concept that create an airy space and volume in the painting. In this age, painting has become more spontaneous because of the technique of working in the subconcious mind which allows a painter to paint what he truly feels. The painter is also able to capture thoughts that flash into the mind and be transformed into an art form. However, the composition of this piece breaks the traditional symmetrical attributes to my other paintings. Thus, this painting is like a new birth for me that gave me the idea to create my next painting The Beginning.

Aura of Axum

                                          

          

This painting represents Axumite Civilization which is one of the most significant African Christian empires that reigned from 400 B.C to the 10th century. I want to depict this power by using it in different forms of primitive art. This differs from the rest of the paintings I have done on this concept because I have taken the motives and used them in a composition to truly reveal Axum. However, there are still repetitious symbols incorporated into this that I use in many of my other paintings as a character that slowly helps me to progress into a level where viewers can see me through my paintings. The fact is, art must be able to display the general but also have the ability to relate to the viewer as though they are looking at themselves in a mirror to capture an individualistic identity in art. Art has to speak in a language that allows others to see. 

A good example of this is artist Skunder Boghossian  who has taken “significant sites from Ethiopia” and turned it into a modern primitive concept.

   “For him, the systematic decomposition of culture, history and naturally of creativity on the psyche of people of color is sadly very significant. For him also, the universality in  the culture of the creative history of people of color is a consequential reality and hence, the symbolic agreement of the jazz lyric of the African American, the harmonious chant of the Ethiopian and the rhythmical tune of the singer from Mali. In Skunder's words all his works are "a perpetual celebration of the diversity of blackness."

Also, another example is artist Wosene Kosrof.

"Wosene Worke Kosrof has explored the aesthetic potential of language, using the written symbols of his native Amharic as the major compositional element in his work. In his  paintings, the calligraphic forms of Amharic are broken apart, abstracted, and reconfigured to create a new visual language that draws upon the artist's Ethiopian heritage while incorporating his experiences as an expatriate living in the United States.. As Wosene explains (the artist has chosen his first name as his professional name), "The symbols bring my culture to me and at the same time I recreate my culture with the symbols, producing a unique international visual language."

All in all, these artists have made a substantial impact on Ethiopian art culture as well as raise the awareness of  art into a different perspective by adding highly skilled Ethiopian embroidery and design. Artists such as this have come out of one root but have different branches and styles.

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The Seeds of Life

      

      

                               

           This painting is about the concept of Axum and is one of the four paintings I have done on this concept. I have taken religious and symbolic elements from all of these paintings and continued to use them to progress and grow in this concept. Thus, the composition of each painting tends to develop even more. However, the fact remains that it is highly important to create an identity to each painting that not only stirs our emotions but opens the mind to a new perspective of art.

Sacred Lotus

         

               

                        

                                 

          

             The Sacred Lotus represents the birth of a child. I was inspired to paint a painting about this concept which is similar to the one of the Lotus flower which is born in the water just as a baby in the mother's womb. Ideally, the flower reminds me a lot of Baptism because it is born from the water and grows out.

             The Lotus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera) has had a significant impact on many ancient cultures such as Egypt and is currently the country flower of India and Vietnam. It is referred as being holy and sacred in the Hindu religion and is mentioned in many Hindi stories. In fact, there has even been an architectural temple that was built in inspiration of the Lotus.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Temple)         

            Nonetheless, this painting has two circles and many pelicans. One circle represents the season that that is ending and the other represents the spring season that is to be born. Thus, it resembles the Lotus. The pelicans represent the sense of natural bonding in the kingdom of creation. As an artist, the ideas that are created each second are ones that I have to capture and integrate it into my art with skills that have been aquired with past experiences as this with an interval of rest to do it again.

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Spring

This is the second time I had painted this piece. It allows me to come out of abstract and do a more impressionistic painting. Instead of thinking so much, this painting allowed me to relax and just paint from life. Usually when I do an abstract piece, I tend to get lost in my own world and disappear from reality. This type of painting allows the painter to go back to the starting point but lets them add realistic elements. The painting must have to be a balance between subconscious mind and consciousness but also can be used individually in a mental sense and reaction.

Sisi and her cat are my neighbors. Sometimes Sisi comes to the studio alone and sometimes her cat comes alone. Nevertheless, every time I see them, they enlighten me with three different kinds of ideas. A message revolves to me by an inner voice which also accounts for the beauty of this work for only that is beautiful.