Born in 1983 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Ephrem Solomon observes his environment and presents socio-political works using woodcut and mixed media. Informing his work are views of nature, the city and the people that inhabit the spaces around him, as does a fictional world that exists beyond the present – a reality that is free from the limitations of anecdotal recordings of experience. Solomon presents his observations through symbolism and the use of archival material, which provides personal and political narratives beyond his locale. In exploring nature, the effects of climate change, the human condition and the cycle of long-term transformations that occur as time passes, he conceptualizes the cosmos as ‘the origin of the universe and the meaning of human life in the vastness of space,’, at a time when notions of societal freedom, race, multiculturalism, and nationhood are continuously being called into question. Many of his works remain untitled, allowing viewers to identify themselves and those around them.

Ephrem Solomon is represented by Kristin Hjellegjerde, UK