Executed in acrylic on canvas, Untitled XLI was produced shortly after Merikokeb Berhanu relocated from Ethiopia to the United States.
The painting combines abstract and representational elements, forging a distinct formal vocabulary in viibrant colors. The biomorphic imagery evokes associations with life: Rounded shapes invoke cells, buds, seed pods, or embryonic life, suggesting processes of germination, growth, flowering, and witherinh – underlying themes that are more intuited than stated.