Age 7 portal

Acrylic on Canvas, 10'x5', 2019, $7000

You're at the age 7 portal, will you enter? Will you face your child self? Will you forgive the man who stole your childhood?

As the granddaughter of humans who were twice left with no country, and as the daughter of an exiled guerrilla freedom fighter, my art is how the legacy of my family lives on. My art is born from transgenerational trauma, from intense pride in being birthed in a free country of abundant beauty and culture, and an inherent understanding of human emotions. Stories of collective suffering and the triumph of human beings inspire me day to day. My paintbrush has a voice and it will always speak up.

Rohena is a Seattle-based multidisciplinary artist.

Born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she studied Journalism and Fine Art during her undergrad years at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Upon embarking on a career as a copywriter at McCann Erickson, she completed another degree in Graphic Design from Raffles International College in Bangkok, Thailand.

Rohena’s love for news permeates all facets of her creative practice. Her work has a deeper focus on social issues plaguing the universe and can take the shape of a news story, documentary film, advertisement or painting. Her painting style varies from abstract expressionism to narrative storytelling. Rohena’s paintings have been exhibited in galleries of America, Thailand and Bangladesh. She often explores layers of a life of migration, war, patriotism, pop culture, psychology, politics and forensic science.

Rohena’s goal is to introduce the world to the thinking process of a modern-day Bangladeshi woman.