Tiemar Tegene (Ethiopian b. 1985)
Dancing Through the Pain, 2022
Signed ‘signature” (middle right)
Mixed media on paper
100.2 x 70.5 cm
Ksh 395,000 – 465,000
(US$) 3,000 – 3,500
Provenance: direct from the artist
Sold Ksh 469,600
Tegene received a BFA in printmaking from the Allé School of Fine Arts & Design, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Where she is currently living and working as a full time studio artist. Her work has been exhibited at the National Museum of Ethiopia, Alliance Ethio-Francaise, Modern Art Museum Gebre Kristos Desta Centre, the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Circle Art gallery Nairobi Kenya and the James Fuentes Gallery New York. As well as her studio work, she completed a series of public murals commissioned by the city of Addis Ababa.
Tegene’s work is anchored in her training as a printmaker, expanding etching processes into mono-printing through spontaneous experiments, most often using found household items as tools to add texture. Each work is unique and experimental, as she finds new ways to create texture with ink on her surfaces and then adding coloured pencil to forge patterns. As these elements come together she pushes at the boundaries that exist within and between human beings, making delicate portraits that reflect the complex inner world of feelings and experiences. Dancing with the Pain rejects how society expects us to control our emotions, especially in relation to our culture, religion, age or gender.