Adonai Sebhatu is an Italian artist of Eritrean origin, living and working in Bologna, Italy. The research and driving force behind his artworks derives from understanding and examining identity and the sense of belonging to his birth place.
His sculptures and works are made using materials of both organic and artificial origin: waste materials, whether electronic or environmental, are reused and assembled to give a new light towards an additional function of digital fragments.
His works all make use of electronic waste, renowned as one of the most difficult materials to dispose of and recycle. In light of raising awareness on anthropogenic climate change, Adonai manipulates the end of a “useful life” of electronics, revitalizing all of its parts into intricate everlasting artworks. This unique trademark of the artist’s techniques become a vehicle for change by confronting the viewer with the reality of our digital age.
Invented landscapes, cyber-cities, installations and anthropomorphic figures are his characteristic mark, accompanied by a strong playful component. A sense of fascination both stemming from the viewers who are invited to immerse themselves within the work, and for the artist himself who, an expert in handling materials, creates new worlds in which to enter and find their own dimension.
Adonai presents utopian urban spaces stripped of an identity: a certain fantasy city taking shape in our mind. References originating both from a reality and the structure of a contemporary city, yet leaving traces of becoming astray in a labyrinth full of chips, IT cables and electrical debris.