After graduating from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, Ermias Ekube founded his own school, the Asmara School of the Arts, in Eritrea in 1994, where he mentored young artists despite growing censorship in the country. However, in 2012, the artist fled Eritrea to escape stringent government restrictions, relocating to Västervik, Sweden, to pursue his painting career. Perennially interested in the mental experience of the human condition, Ermias has championed painting as a way to explore human psychology, particularly focusing on self-perception and vanity.
At Ed Cross in London, Ekube’s exhibition “Memories are we are memories” uses mirrors as a motif to interrogate the impact of perception and memory on identity. This collection of new works features obscured figures in domestic settings, each holding a mirror that reflects empty spaces. Memories are we are memories #23 (2024) features an hourglass in an empty room. In other works, he captures faceless individuals holding mirrors towards the viewer—symbolizing the fleeting and often distorted nature of memories.
