The work I create is strongly linked to how I experience my mixed identity. As I was born in Ethiopia and adopted to the Netherlands. I find myself feeling like I lived in between two worlds. Where these two worlds overlap a third world was created. The objects I make are an expression of how I perceive my third world.I want to show the realm where the blur of these two worlds exists, as together they create the portal to my third world. My third world creates a surrealistic place that conveys a feeling of culture that does not belong anywhere. Conveying through imagery is how I adapted, conscious and unconscious to both cultures. I use the in-between world to comprehend my reality and create the illusion that I know where I belong. It serves as my safe space and coping mechanism for the mental fractures endured. I AM MOTHERLAND is about how I ground myself. Motherland is an entity I carry within. Where I find my sense of mother. This world is deeply rooted in representational power and symbolic meaning. 

  
There is a film and photography made in this collection. 

IAM MOTHERLAND 

The textiles in the installation project images i shot in ethiopia. The images reflect fake and real memories and how they blur in my into images of the maybe. 

WHEN LIONS LEARN TO SWIM 

When lions learn to swim has a new jewelry collection. It translates from the same vision I follow. My concept of home represents a sanctuary where different identities converge, offering an identities converge, offering a refuge for those who exist on these same borders. I looked within the parts of loss and adapting in language. I spoke a few word of Amharic before being adopted to the Netherlands. The los of words and change in world left strange shapes that were born from the Amharic language but are un readable in my mind. I redesigned them as I see them in my world. Embossed in silver / gold plated jewelry and designed fine jewelry pieces the language gets a new symbolical meaning in my third world. 

The protectors of the Third world real. These hair sculptures. are created with different types of afro braiding technigues and Dutch sailing Knotting technique's. With saffier stones, messing hand engraved and embassed drawings. 

  
These peaces go back to the core memories that relate to showing where the blur of cultures started to exist. As the story goes that I use to try to braid my hair as a child with Dutch knotting techniques we would learn in art class. That was the only representation for me that gave the idea of braids. This later turned in to a technique that I grew into a mix of afro braiding and Sailer knots. that create the spirits holding culture and identity. 

WHEN LION LEARN TO SWIM 

WHEN LIONS LEARN TO SWIM. 

2022-2023 I got selected to become A talent funded by Stimuleringsfonds. Its a year program and promotion of artist that are at the start of there career. This a short video about the works and how I got to grow in that year. 

Stimuleringsfonds Talent development 

Adopted from Ethiopia and raised in the Netherlands, Kalkidan has always felt she lived in between two different worlds. Hoex explores the intricacies of her identity and how she relates to others through her jewelry and other interdisciplinary art works. Between not being one or the other, a third world started to exist. The work she creates is strongly linked to how she experience her mixed identity. The objects she makes are an expression of how she perceives these worlds. 

  
Hoex wants to show the realm where a blur of worlds exits. Her experiences create a surrealistic place that conveys a feeling of culture that does not belong to one fixed place. Conveying through imagery how she adapted, conscious and unconscious, to both cultures. Hoex uses the in-between world to comprehend with reality and create the believe that she knows where she belongs. TheNEWtribe is about how Hoex’s grounds herself.

WHEN LIONS LEARN TO SWIM a captivating collection by Hoex as a practice emerges, framing the heterotopia of home and belonging. Through the interplay of symbolism, Hoex explores the multiplicity of experiences associated with home, belonging and identity. They explore the imaginary of ones homeland, the challenges faced by adoption seeking a sense of belonging in unfamiliar lands, and the resilience of communities navigating through displacement. 

 She found that home is an evolving entity that encompasses a myriad of emotions, memories, and cultural influences. Hoex embarks on a visual exploration of this through various mediums, from fine and contemporary jewelry, textiles and photography into a multimedia installation. To encapsulate the essence of home or has Hoex says her third world as a heterotypic space. Within these artworks, the familiar and the foreign coalesce, and even an unknown language exists, creating a paradoxical yet harmonious blend of elements that challenge conventional perceptions.

  
Kalkidan’s concept of home represents a sanctuary where different identities converge, offering a identities converge, offering a refuge for those who exist on these same borders. Through her art Hoex’s dismantles the barriers of exclusion, inviting viewers to embrace the complexity of their own identities and the diverse stories that shape their sense of belonging. In these sisal narratives, the boundaries between the self and the other blur, fostering empathy and understanding. Truly visualizing a different world. 

WHEN LIONS LEARN TO SWIM , Arnhem Museum 

The film and photography of the IAM MOTHERLAND concept where the end products of my working collaboration with FASHIONCLASH. The full film is too big to show on this website. send me a email if needed.

IAM MOTHERLAND film 

TheNEWtribe Rings are based on the social interaction of the Mursi omo valley tribe of Ethiopia and the social interaction of western society. I became fascinated by the way the tribe created shield with strange faces that represented the faces of their ancestors. In battle they would protect and scare the opponent by the faces they were created in. This interaction between two groups by faces was very powerfully and seemed similar to how in western society we use emoticons to get the same and different reaction by faces and meanings we give to the symbols. These rings are a bridge to both cultures. And overlap in their design. The wearability is there to protect the wearer. Every ring has his story and ancestor character.

  

Add

Kalkidan Hoex