“I have this interest from a few years ago, of body versus soul. My latest work embodies the theme of no body and no faces, only the garb that adorns the body of a figure. The fabric and the clothes have value. In Ethiopia Muslims and Christians share the culture of covering their heads in a holy place such as a mosque or a monastery, this symbolizes the identity and culture here.”
Leikun Nahusenay was born in 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
He is a self-declared, self-taught artist although he did his graduation from the Ale School of Fine Arts in 2006 and Teferi Mekonnen School in 2011. His multi-discipline practice is based in Addis Ababa, where he works from the Nas Gedame studio.
For Nahusenay, the creation of a work of art comes from the mind and the heart. His works are born from pious meditations and are meditations themselves. His recent pastel drawings are concerned with the presence and absence of the spirit in the human body and its connections with the spiritual.
He uses the technique called subtraction which entails cutting into the painting and extracting lines of color till a form is recognised.
He calls himself the line artist and draws and redraws lines as meditations while simultaneously being inspired by music.
Group exhibitions:
2023
Contemporary Ethiopia at Quoz Arts Fest 2023, AKKA Project Dubai, Dubai, UAE
2019
MARKET I, Filman(a)nt, Fondation Blachère, Apt, France
2018
End of Residence, Dos Mares, Marseille, France
2016
EDSA (Ethio-Danish Space Agency), installation exhibit, Asni Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Addis Calling I, Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2012
Future Makers, National Museum of Ethiopia and Goethe Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Art fairs:
2017
Mixed Media Art Fair, Salon Zurcher Art Fair, New York, USA
Residencies:
2018
Marseilles, France | Dos Mares
2016
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | EDSA