Betelhem Naz Abechu
As an artist with roots in both Ethiopia and South Dakota, Abechu's work is deeply influenced by distance. Through extensive research, exploration and day dreaming she navigates through complex realities, digital media, and things that have never existed.
My work is anchored in the realm of found footage, a medium that encompasses videos, images, and audio sourced from various online realms. I like to reach inside a receptacle and search for something. Through the exploration of online artifacts, I am particularly drawn to elements with unknown sources. As they offer me a lack of context I can manipulate. Through the found footage, I excavate collective stories and narratives from forgotten corners, and use it as a framework to project my individual histories onto it. The word "Ethiopia" is a thread, weaving its way through my work. It's the one material that activates the rest.
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