Tesfaye Urgessa: In the Uncertain Steps of Identity

Between memory and movement, Tesfaye Urgessa’s works unfold like inner landscapes shaped by quiet tensions. Born in Addis Ababa and now living between Ethiopia and Europe, the artist translates his direct experience of migration, identity, and belonging into painting, transforming personal narratives into a universal reflection. His figures, often suspended in undefined spaces, seem to hold unfinished gestures, as if captured in a moment of transition. Deep tones - from ochre and green to blue and black - evoke both rootedness and displacement, building an intense and layered visual language. Domestic interiors and landscapes merge, while memory and the present coexist within the same dimension. At the core of his practice lies the idea of the “primordial,” understood not as a distant origin but as a continuous presence accompanying every experience. Through emotionally charged images, Urgessa explores the fragility and resilience of the human condition, offering a powerful and deeply contemporary perspective on our time.