PAINTINGS & COLLAGES | HannaKebbede

Paintings and Collages

Art is a language of beauty and a medium by which we showcase the soul. I found that even the most painful experiences and the saddest emotions can show the beauty in them when put in an art form.

I began drawing and painting at a very young age, but I was somehow not directed to make it my vocation. Perhaps it was that my mind and my heart were not in alignment. My sense of serving community ruled out art as a viable option. I was timid to claim myself as an artist. All of these in some way derailed me from pursuing it as a vocation.

During the reign of Red Terror in Ethiopia in the 1970s, I experienced trauma and stopped to make art. It was a stranger in New York city who reminded me of my passion for art. He said a spirit of my late father was directing him to address me.

Nevertheless, I studied at the Art Students League in New York city for three years. Later on, I took courses in design, illustration and fine art at NOVA. More importantly, I continued to use art as a means to reach my sub conscious and forged my own path in illustration design and mixed media. I'm still exploring and plan to expand my work in glass works, installations and murals.