In her latest body of work, Three Seasons, Ethiopian-American artist Meron Engida Hawke offers an exploration of geography, memory, ecology, and womanhood. Drawing from her personal experiences as an Ethiopian woman living in the United States, Engida Hawke bridges the emotional and environmental landscapes of two worlds, weaving together themes of resilience, displacement, and belonging. The exhibition centers on the lived experiences of rural Ethiopian women and children — figures who are at once vulnerable and deeply connected to the natural world. Set against shifting environmental and socioeconomic backdrops, these portraits reflect not only past struggles but also present-day perseverance and future hope. In Engida Hawke’s visual world, nature is not merely a setting but a source of spiritual sustenance — a place of healing, adaptation, and continuity. As with previous works, the artist’s richly layered paintings blend symbolic language with historical, cultural and contemporary references. A new collage technique — combining coffee-stained canvas, figures painted in acrylic paint, and cut pieces of handmade cotton paper — creates a visually and conceptually layered, textured, multidimensional surface. This process of fragmentation and reassembly becomes a metaphor for healing, restoration, and cultural integration. Engida Hawke also highlights an urgent ecological tension: the displacement of native flora and fauna by fast-growing, non-native eucalyptus trees. While these trees serve a critical economic purpose — supplying timber for cooking and construction — they threaten the biodiversity and sustainable traditions that have long underpinned women’s livelihoods in rural Ethiopia. Her work confronts this complex dilemma without easy resolution, instead asking what is lost — and what survives — when survival demands compromise. In Three Seasons, native plants, birds, and human figures coexist within a delicate visual balance. They serve as resilient emblems of a culture navigating upheaval — rooted, endangered, and yet enduring. Through these works, Engida Hawke continues to redefine how Ethiopian identity, ecology, and femininity are portrayed — intertwined and alive in the face of change. Meron Engida Hawke (b. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) creates vibrant tableaus that act as a vehicle for exploring the artist’s personal experiences and Ethiopian cultural identity. Through trust in the mark-making process, Engida Hawke has developed a rich visual vocabulary that draws influence from the colors and narratives of ancient Ethiopian art. At the intersections of abstraction and figuration, Engida Hawke’s works center a cast of expressive figures who together tell stories of vulnerability, empowerment, and resilience. Fusing memory and imagination, Engida layers tones, symbols and motifs to construct emotive scenes intended to prompt dialogue about migration, the environment and women’s experiences. Engida Hawke holds a BFA in Fine Art from Addis Ababa University School of Fine Arts and Design. She currently lives and works in Washington, DC. Three Season is her third solo exhibition at Morton Fine Art where she has been represented since 2020.