Leikun Nahusenay adding layers to his artwork

Author: Hiwot Abebe - May 26, 2018

Leikun Nahusenay’s White Line opened this week at Alliance Ethio-Française to a very large turnout. His first solo show following his retrospective at Addis Fine Art in 2016, White Line features 43 works completed within the past 2 years. This exhibition included collages, photographs and installations following Leikun’s experimental technique peeling photos. Highly informed by his training in wood cut graphics at Ale School of Fine Art, Leikun has pushed his experimental fine art photography technique further adding texture to a typically flat medium.

Even though Leikun is a multimedia artist working primarily in collage and installations, these works also show him flexing his painting muscles. This is no surprise as Leikun frequently ventures into unexplored mediums. Self-taught in photography which he picked up as a means of documentation, he rarely identifies with being a photographer, choosing to present himself as an artist creating photo-based works. This has allowed him to use texture as color, playing with creating new layers, composing paintings through lines and light. These works invite the viewer to touch and feel the pieces, adding another layer of viewing experience. This, according to Leikun, has more power. “I don’t say I’m a photographer. The photos would be enough then. I’ve gotten here through experimentation,” says Leikun.

Leikun’s double exposure photography, using reflection to layer two different images into one, is especially highlighted in a picture of an ancient decrepit house found around Kazanchis set against playing cards. This combination of layers gives a peculiar sense of completion to the piece. Leikun’s photo peels give a whimsical yet purposeful feel to his works.

The three installation pieces explore the relationship between furniture and the animals these seats represent. Donkey Chair is a wooden artist’s bench with intertwined wooden frames at one end and a mirror at the other. Aside from the typical use of the bench, the title calls to mind the historic plight of the donkey for domestic use. The mirror reflecting back the cascading abstraction compels one to contemplate the role of the artist and the relationship with the artwork – a loop of information that can restrict an artist’s identity to the work produced. Leikun says this piece can be used as an entry point into thinking of these frames as 3D windows, although limited by the sharp edges they create a certain rhythm of thought and reflection.

The exhibition follows the theme of thin white line connecting pieces that may appear inconsistent due to the medium used but are unified in concept. These works were produced in the NAS Gedame studio Leikun has occupied for the past 18 years along with artist Dawit Adnew. A highly collaborative artist, three of the photographs in the exhibition originally taken with his art collective Trinity, a group he has been a member of for 10 years along with Sebastian Cailleux and Eyerus Abera. His studio, located next to Guramayne Art Gallery at Ras Meknonnen Bridge, is a vibrant and stimulating space where he gives weekly art lessons to children. Influenced by Ras Tafarian theology, Leikun is a keen learner and thinker. A bed frame strung with various random objects hangs from his ceiling. Looking at this, he says, rests his mind instead of his body.

The studio space allows him to experiment in thought and in his artistic practice. While many may be concerned about the status of Ethiopian art, he says, he’s certain people want to see new things and his method is definitely new to the world. There are no other artists applying his unique technique and his contemporary works are introducing art lovers to unchartered multidisciplinary territory.  

Originally Published: https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/5513/