About
For me, everything starts with umwelt. The unique way each of us perceives the world. I use color, the play of light and shadow, and open space so you can place yourself in the image. Above all, I want you to feel something, to recall a moment or emotion, and see your own thoughts take shape in front of you in a way you might not expect. If you look at a piece and think, “that’s exactly what I was feeling”, then it’s doing its job.
- zulU Abassa
Ezekiel Abassa is a self-taught artist based in Florida, raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where markets, hand-painted walls, and woven patterns trained his eye for structure and color. His paintings and mixed-media works (including pastel and spray) toggle between figure and bold abstraction. He treats composition like construction, planes, lines, and pauses, so that imagery feels precise yet open, inviting viewers to bring their own memory to the surface.
Recent highlights include group exhibitions with the Gainesville Fine Arts Association (2024, 2025) and the Alachua County Library Summer Art Showcase (2025), where his work received “Favorite Painting”. A run of independent 8×8-ft murals completed in 2025 allowed him to test scale, edge, and surface in public space; those experiments now feed back into works on canvas, velour, and panel. Abassa lives and works in Gainesville. He welcomes exhibition opportunities and thoughtfully selected commissions.