Fikirte Ayana

Fikirte Ayana

Fikirte Ayana’s journey from selling corn to becoming a model and finally pursuing her passion for painting is an inspiring story of resilience and determination. Her art exhibition, titled “Inner Imagination,” showcases her artistic growth and the expression of her feelings and experiences.

Fikirte’s path to becoming an artist was not straightforward. After facing adversity in her previous job due to harassment and a lack of protection, she found an opportunity to work at an art school as a model. Her natural beauty and modesty made her an ideal role model for the art students. Over the course of 30 years, she dedicated herself to this role, posing for countless art classes.

However, a tragic accident altered Fikirte’s life. She was hit by a car, which left her with severe injuries and a long recovery period. Her face was disfigured, but with good medical treatment, she gradually regained her beauty. Once she had recovered, Fikirte resumed her position as a model, but something had changed within her.

Fikirte had developed a strong desire to express her innermost feelings through art. She shared her artistic aspirations with the art teachers, revealing that she had been secretly painting in her spare time. She had seen the broom as a brush and her body changes during treatment as abstract inspiration for her artwork.

Despite never receiving formal education in art, Fikirte had learned from the artists she had modeled for over the years. With the support and encouragement of those around her, Fikirte embraced her newfound passion for painting. Armed with a canvas and a paintbrush, she delved into the art world, satisfying her thirst for creativity.
Finally, Fikirte’s journey culminated in her art exhibition, “Inner Imagination.” The exhibition aimed to showcase her unique perspective and invite the public to experience her imaginative world.

Fikirte Ayana’s story is a testament to the transformative power of art and the unwavering spirit of an individual pursuing their dreams. Her exhibition stands as a celebration of her resilience and creativity, inviting viewers to explore the depths of their own imagination.

Art Statement for Fikirte Ayana’s “Hidden Feelings” (2024)

In Hidden Feelings, Fikirte Ayana transforms the raw, disorienting aftermath of a car accident into a profound visual exploration. The piece is born from the visceral experience of the “bang”—a sudden collision that shattered not only her physical form but her perception of reality.

Through the lens of distorted eyes, Ayana reimagines this traumatic event, where fragmented visions and abstract memories converge within the canvas. The painting captures the chaotic “bang effect”—the moment of impact frozen in time, where the mind holds onto fractured images. Eyes, displaced and overlapping, evoke the disorientation and confusion of the moment, as if seen through a kaleidoscope of pain. The swirling forms and abstract facial features merge and contort, mirroring the emotional and psychological distortion that lingers after the trauma.

Using a muted palette of earthy tones and circular patterns, Ayana expresses how trauma warps our perception, creating a surreal, dream-like sequence of events. The forms within the painting seem to be caught in a loop, reflecting the repetitive nature of reliving the memory in dreams. The distorted eyes—seen both inside and outside the moment of impact—represent the duality of the artist’s vision, where reality and dream blur together.

Hidden Feelings is not merely a portrait of physical damage but a visual representation of the internal effects of trauma. It speaks to the profound transformation that occurs when an artist experiences rupture, where the distortion of the self becomes a fertile ground for new creative expressions. Through this painting, Ayana opens a window into her own psyche, offering a glimpse of how she sees the world—through the distorted eyes shaped by the bang effect.