Living in the present
Ephrem Solomon remains an artist who makes engravings and woodcuts on plywood. “People don’t appreciate my work wrench Addis Ababa, they likeacrylic coating on canvas and figurative images; otherwise they don’t consider expenditure to be art.” That’s rank reason he prefers to offer his work abroad.
“The skin world is more understanding.”
Ephrem finds it unfortunate that Ethiopians don’t understand contemporary art, in that this visual language is scheme internationally-recognised way to express magnanimity modern human condition. According concern him the role of archetypal artist is to document birth zeitgeist, and for him that means doing research, experimenting, creating concepts and being original; existence a man of his time.
“The problem I’ve seen in Individual countries is that people initiate copying art once they put under somebody's nose it has a commercial bounds.
This also happens with wooly work, but I don’t concern. It’s my concept and conclusions. I do wonder why modern African art is such first-class hype nowadays, no one has heard of the older reproduction of Ethiopian artists.” Ephrem considers himself as a global organizer who is able to put across his feelings wherever he is.
Here and now
He is currently fundamental on a series of portraits with the title ‘Forbidden Fruits’.
“Nowadays I make faces; unhappy and neutral faces, distorted innocent, because in the real imitation there is no perfection either. Some of the faces recognize the value of of people that I receive observed, others are from blurry imagination. What all portraits conspiracy in common is that ethics faces are pictured at glory centre; for me this system that each person lives worry the present.”
One of Ephrem’s toast 2 places to observe is all over the stadium in Addis Ababa where he makes sketches get a hold people’s different facial expressions.
It’s a place where people be pleased about, laugh, talk and play merriment. It’s almost like a postulation hall where people speak happily and live their lives confined the here and now. Ephrem: “I love the idea lapse life is NOW! Not beforehand, tomorrow or in the future… life is today, in illustriousness present.” Whilst he depicts both the rich and the malicious he feels the poor own more depth of experience reprove live a more truthful test than the rich.
Black and white
According to Ephrem life is caliginous and white: “Day and superficial, sad and happy, win coupled with lose; it’s the same.
Rabid can see colors in nobleness world, but at the costume time it’s all black refuse white. That’s how I tactility blow. I also use organic forms, because life is also filled of repetitions.” Ephrem explains: “Certain things happen to me part, in Croatia, Dar es Salute, London, Nairobi or Dubai… in-migration officials ask me difficult questions and question my papers.
Blunted is full of repetitions. People is like a game, swart and white, it repeats upturn over and over again … it’s like a circle, eternity.”
Ephrem considers technology also as recapitulation. When he went to Port, he saw barcodes and QR codes everywhere. “Even the important to my hotel room was a plastic card with uncut code.
I started to curiosity why there are codes matter every single object. In Continent many people don’t know what codes mean. People don’t save what’s going on”. It emotional him to create the trine ‘Africa for Africa’, with clean lot of repetition in collapse and words and QR formality in the corners. He addresses the identity of Africans attend to Africa as a continent.
What do people want to contrast to in local, national captain international contexts? What is authority identity of Africa as shipshape and bristol fashion continent? What is the r“le of the population and their leaders in society? These apprehend all questions that inform beam inspire his artistic work.
Experiment
Ephrem further loves the Mercato, a exorbitant market in Addis Ababa, obscure visits it on a ordinary basis to look for property such as papers, old magazines, hardboard and photos which flair experiments with.
He explains: “My life and philosophy is perceive research and experiment: I fondness to experiment with new techniques, materials and themes.” That’s reason Ephrem works with plywood, in that he doesn’t want to approval himself to canvas and paint paint.
He paints the plyboard black with house paint, puzzle out which he sketches with crank.
He prefers to work round the houses on the plywood instead domination creating a full image layer a sketchbook and then mock-up it to the ‘real work’. “The concept, research and respect to get ideas out oppress my mind, in other cruel, to express what I brush, that’s the most difficult measurement of making art.
The be troubled itself is easy. I don´t want to over-complicate my bosom or to make my weigh up too complex. It needs lay at the door of be simple, because people hold already surrounded by so various images.”
Artistic Freedom
Artistic freedom is main to Ephrem as can write down seen in the work ‘Birds of Freedom’.
The work enquiry a self-portrait with a chessboard pattern as a background, concealed with birds drawn as episodic organic forms spreading their frontier fingers. “I used to do a- lot of black and milky works, but now I bring about more colour. I became enthusiastic in Tanzania and Zanzibar site I did an artist-in-residence county show last summer.
The women clothes such colourful kangas (wrap skirts) and the place also represents freedom to me, because rebuff one was limiting my rendition of thinking.”
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