Ficre Ghebreyesus—painter, chef, activist, and refugee—defied borders and divisions in every aspect of his life. After fleeing his home country at 16 years old during the Eritrean War of Independence, Ghebreyesus traveled to Sudan, Germany, and Italy before settling in the United States. He painted matte, dreamlike oil and acrylic scenes, flush with enigmatic colors that straddle the boundary between abstraction and figuration. His art is intimate and existential. As he once noted, “Painting was the miracle, the final act of defiance through which I exorcised the pain and reclaimed my sense of place…and my love for life.”

–Elizabeth Shaw, from the Glenstone Field Guide