Art
Nyareeta Gach
South Sudanese artist Nyareeta Gach shares a selection of paintings reflective of her personal history, the political history of South Sudan, and her experience negotiating life as a refugee. These paintings are from three series: Identify the Lines (2017), Post Trauma (2018), and Hagadera (2018).
Artist Statement
I was born in Maiwut, Upper Nile State, Sudan in 1992 during the civil war of north and south Sudan. Shortly after my birth my father, David Gach Chawich decided it would be best for the entire immediate family’s welfare to migrate to Ethiopia. My family, with a 1-year-old me on my mama’s back- walked a 3-month journey to Gambella, Ethiopia. After a few months rest, my father, uncles, aunts, mothers and older siblings continued the journey to Kenya, where we hoped to receive refuge.
When we arrived in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, I was about 2 years old. We didn't stay in Kakuma long. Due to the increasing incoming numbers of refugees, we moved again and headed for Nairobi in 1995. After a year in the capital city of Kenya, we were transferred to another refugee camp, Hagadera. I grew up in both locations. During some school years, we stayed in Nairobi, and the other times we were confined to a life as refugees awaiting a home.
In 2000, at the age of eight-and-a-half years old, we made our final immigration as a family to the United States of America without our father; he was murdered a month before our journey. In my early youth, I grew up in Minnesota. It was in the 6th grade I noticed my talent for drawing and began my practice- where I fell in love with the act of creating and storytelling. After my High School graduation, I left the Midwest for Denver, Colorado where I studied Fine Arts at the Rocky Mountains College of Art + Design.
List of Works
Baptized, 2017. Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, 24x30in. From the series Identify the Lines. Courtesy of the artist.
Monopoly, 2017. Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, 24x30in. From the series Identify the Lines. Courtesy of the artist.
Daughter of a Sung Bull, 2018. Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, 24x36in. From the series Identify the Lines. Courtesy of the artist.
Lost Boys, 2018. Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, 8x10in. From the series Post Trauma. Courtesy of the artist
Divide & Conquer, 2018. Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, 18x18in. From the series Post Trauma. Courtesy of the artist.
40 Days, 2018. Acrylic and Oil on Wood Panel, 8x10in. From the series Hagadera. Courtesy of the artist.
Forest, 2018. Acrylic and Oil on Wood Panel, 8x10in. From the series Hagadera. Courtesy of the artist.
May 2020. Vol nº1