Portrait of Mygenet Tesfaye Harris
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Mygenet Tesfaye Harris

Drawing, Fiber, Multidisciplinary, Multidisciplinary Art, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture / Installation, Visual / Media

About the Artist

Mygenet Tesfaye Harris is an Ethio African American artist whose work is inter- and multi-disciplinary. Her artistic journey flourished during her undergraduate and graduate studies at the MICA. Her imagery is based on her story of migration and adaption fueled by her birthplace of Ethiopia and her Eritrean bloodline. Mygenet's exhibition of Wax & Gold is from three series reflecting her origin and life. The Ethiopian phrase “Wax and Gold” refers to many unseen complexities and Symbols below the surface.  In a time of constant conflict in her birthplace,  the work reflects a plea of mothers begging for the protection of their children from war, death, and suffering. What is protection? What does that look like in West and East African traditions? The works are from three series: Immigrant Child, Flickers of Memory, and Maren. This series reveals and shares her story as an immigrant African child. 

Mygenet Tesfaye Harris website Mygenet Tesfaye Harris

Featured Work

Photos

Immigrant child- Uprooted This wall installation, woodcut, is an interactive piece about healing the immigrant child who was ripped from their family. This is my story of healing from the pain of losing my family and gaining a new life and family. Uprooted as a child was hard and painful, and making this work hopefully amplifies other children's similar stories. In this work, the viewer can put a pin in the work, making visual connections and impacting its energy to heal.
Gojoye is about Motherhood and the energy that protects the children. Connections of all the umbilical cords from the beginning of the birth giver. How many mothers did it take? Like the rings of a tree bark, like the Mesobe design of a woven basket.
My creative spirit draws energy and is connected to 4 women who have passed into the afterlife…the flickering memories of them laughing, singing, praying, and telling me stories. I hope to honor and celebrate my mother, grandmothers, aunts, and female ancestors to validate their relentless effort to protect their peace and their children.
The tears of the Mother and children seeking protection.