
Natnael Ashebir
The Story of the Wind is a painting and drawing series that explores belonging where the wind becomes entangled with memory and identity, stirring the essence of time. The work portrays a liminal space unbound by specific time and place, where figures, geometric forms, abstracted landscapes, and mark-making coverages engage with the layers of time and place.
The figures embody a sense of waiting, while subtle symbols give the work an enigmatic presence. Symbols like African masks, cactus, flowers, and animals enter as surreal presences, embodiments of inner longing and desire, inviting exploration of how their cultural presence evolves.
The work invites engagement with memory as a shifting presence to explore belonging not as something fixed but as something felt and questioned. Through the metaphor of wind, the work becomes a site of interplay between past and present, absence and presence, and boom and entrapment intertwine. These elements open a quiet dialogue on identity, place, memory, and culture.