ART & SOUL T egan Bro z yna
Immigrant’s Art Points to Home Yisehak F-Selassie is a California-based artist whose paintings and sculptures are informed by both his immigrant experience and his faith. Born into a royal family in Ethiopia,Yisehak (pronounced yi-tsz-hak) escaped the country at the age of 11, embarking on a journey that would eventually lead him to a life in the United States. In 1974 the military and police forces of Ethiopia mounted a coup against Yisehak’s great-grandfather, the reigning emperor Haile Selassie. In a move to consolidate and cement its power, the new communist military government began arresting and murdering anyone perceived to be a threat.Yisehak’s parents were casualties of this brutal “Red Terror,” a time of chaos and horror during which Yisehak recalls being driven to school and seeing dead bodies on the ground along the way. By 1976 a missionary couple, along with royal family members living in exile, secretly planned the elaborate escape of the ousted emperor’s 10 great-grandchildren. Airlifted into Kenya, the children continued on to Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom before finally seeking asylum in the United States. Yisehak says this “miraculous” escape taught him to rely on God. Yisehak’s experience of straddling two cultures has led him to redefine home as “where we are at peace,” and to him this means that our true home is with God. He thinks of this earth as our “home away from home.” The communist government sought to erase God from Ethiopian culture, which previously had been a deeply Christian nation.Yisehak is grateful that, in contrast, US citizens are free to express themselves and to worship
God, a privilege that Yisehak does not take for granted. As an artist and a man of faith,Yisehak draws inspiration from his past, particularly the example of his grandmother, Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum.The princess was an artist and devout Christian, who cared for the elderly and the widowed and often dedicated her spiritual artwork to church. Says Yisehak, “She lived the life that God would have us live.” Yisehak’s artistic influences are varied, from Renaissance paintings to the work of Marc Chagall. He began making art at an early age, continued during his frightening and confusing period of immigration, and then went on to hone his craft at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree. But it was only after graduating that Yisehak began to align his art with his faith. Faced with making art outside the confines of school,Yisehak asked God, “How can I serve you with my art?” After that he began to get a clear calling to use his gift to point others to God. Today the artist says his desire is to “inspire people to open the Bible” and to “spark the soul to look in the right
direction.” His artistic process is organic and spiritual — he starts by sketching a pleasing composition, then asking,“What is this, Lord?” He then sees something in the work that reminds him of God’s Word, and he sets about bringing out and embellishing on the truth of Scripture that he discerns there. “Many people have their own philosophy in art-making, but mine is simply waiting on God and seeking his direction,” he says. This process of creating, which mimics the larger Christian walk of faith, is where Yisehak finds peace. Some viewers move away from his art once they suspect it is faith-inspired, but the works themselves, even the titles, merely hint at their deeper meaning. Yisehak invites viewers to interpret the pieces for themselves, and it is his prayer that the same Spirit who inspired him to paint them will be revealed to those who view them. ■ Visit YisehakFineArts.com for more information. Tegan Brozyna is one of a dozen artists-inresidence at Olivet-Covenant Presbyterian Church (olivetcovenant.com) in Philadelphia.
Left: The artist poses with some of his work. Above: Refugee is a painting that reflects the artist’s own experience. PRISM 2009
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