ARTIST'S BIO

Addiam Tsehaye was born and raised in Asmara, Eritrea located in North East Africa. In the early 1990's She immigrated to the United States escaping a brutal civil war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. She settled in the San Francisco Bay Area where she currently lives and works. Addiam received her BFA in Spacial Arts from San Jose State University in 2008. Her work has been exhibited at the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts (CCACA) in 2007 and 2008.

Addiam's recent work reflects her childhood experience of the Eritrean civil war and her interest in the cultural arts of her homeland. She creates large scale ceramic sculptures referencing traditional African crafts and materials. Addiam's work tells the stories of the people who create traditional, utilitarian objects, the people who use these objects to fill the needs of their society, and the struggles that these people must face.