Alexandra Mitiku (b. 1992) is a Korean-Ethiopian transdisciplinary artist using the concept of paradise as a segue to explore migration and imperialism, particularly looking at the role of imagination and desire. Paradise becomes a metaphor for the yearning that propels us, rather than a place we arrive at – a longing for an ideal version of identity, place, or resolution. This longing becomes an escape – or a homecoming. 

As a form of world-building, she connects mythopoetics and folklore with current realities. Materiality is the main narrator in her works: clay, indigo, limestone, the blacks of burnt woods, and poetry. With these primary materials, her works explore how landscapes like human bodies are carriers of knowledge; living archives. In the making of each work, there are traces of movement, extraction, remembrance, and release; imitating the coiling shape of migrant and diaspora histories that evolve with each step we take. 

At the heart of her practice lies a river of 한/Han – a Korean cultural sentiment of deep unresolved grief at systemic or personal injustice, and the hope for change. It is the weight of a feeling that is carried and passed on, evolving through generations. 

Mitiku’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (Helsinki, Finland) and acquired for the museum’s collection. Recent solo exhibitions include Titanik Gallery (December 2025, Helsinki, Finland) and Studio 11 Art Gallery (April 2026, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia).

Mitiku takes part in the June Exhibition 2026, titled Shifting Coordinates.