This artwork, titled Reflection, represents Zerihun’s artistic identity and expression. The artistic freedom and the interaction between the shapes and forms used in the painting are seen to create a unity with each other. This work of art makes use of the quatryptic type of panel painting and shows that the artist has a deep knowledge of the art of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church; it seems that this has influenced the work’s pictorial structure and formal structural arrangement. This work follows a decorative and formalist method, and the artistic elements that he used in the composition are seen creating a harmony with each other. In this work, he tried to show the artistic experimentation, which is usually seen as the main and dominant artistic feature in Zerihun’s visual text.

Zerihun, who is a painter, graphic artist, and art educator, is known for the freedom with which he uses different art mediums in his works; he regularly uses oil paint, tempera, water color, ink, and mixed media to realize his imaginative art. The artistic freedom observed in the use of subject matter and materials as well as art medium in modern art history is strongly visible in Zerihun’s art. In this regard, in this artwork, he used mixed media on a bamboo stripe medium.

According to him, his works are like the Ethiopian traditional metaphoric poetry known in the local tradition as wax and gold, and he tries to show the artist’s own world view, understanding, and philosophy through the different materials he uses in his paintings.

In Zerihun’s artworks, Africa has a special place. His stand is reflected in the fact that he made African cultural traditions and knowledge the center of his artistic creativity. According to some experts, Zerihun’s artworks explored the changes in cultural values and some aspects associated with them convey the message that African traditional knowledge is the basis for the customs of Ethiopians and other Africans; hence, they should not be forgotten. In other words, Zerihun went back to his history and tried to show his Ethiopian and African identity using a sophisticated artistic language.

The fact that he is thoroughly studying indigenous knowledge and understanding how to use it as the main motives on his works is a demonstration that in the structural arrangement of magical scrolls of secretive art, he regularly uses the symbols (eyes, letters, astrological elements, crosses, etc.) and accepted allegorical patterns. In addition to paying more attention to the history of African culture and art, he studied the African mask, considered the most representative visual art of black Africa, and included it as part of his art. It is evidence of his great attempt to represent his essence as a black man and the African identity through his visual text.

In general, Zerihun’s artistic works often include various expressive symbols and allegoric patterns. This approach, in which he tried to show the social influence of African civilization and culture in the past and in the present, represented also Zerihun’s artistic style and identity and the artist’s hardworking, based artistic experience. The various symbols and human figures that he used in this work, as well as his profound understanding of the mystical world and esoteric knowledge, had been expressed in his own visual language. In this regard, it can be said that Zerihun’s paintings are a social platform, and due to the depth of the message they convey, they could be considered a social metaphor as well.