Goodman Gallery presents INNER VIEWS, Michal Worke’s first solo presentation in London. This exhibition of recent paintings is inspired by the artist’s return to Ethiopia for a residency in 2021.
At three years old, Worke moved from Ethiopia to Israel – via Sudan – with her family as part of “Operation Moses” in the 1980s. Once Michal’s family arrived in Israel they settled and lived in Netanya. Her work offers a reflection on the struggles of survival and sense of home relating to the artist’s personal experiences as well as more global issues around migration.
Worke combines a distinct figurative style – deliberately naive and brightly coloured – with feminist sensibilities, exploring identity and, at times, directly referencing the practice of the late Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego. The artist creates autobiographical paintings, combining self-portraits with portraits of her family and community. Laden with symbolism, these latest paintings feature recurring objects and sentimental items of clothing. For example, the Netela, a traditional handmade scarf worn by Ethiopian and Eritrean women appears in Worke’s most recent paintings to invoke the Ethiopian diasporic experience and is a visual signifier shared by communities in Israeli, where the artist now resides.