"My goal is not to be an artist. My goal is to examine complicated feelings. Paint is what gives expression to these emotions," says Ethiopian artist Daniel Taye

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Ethiopian artist Daniel Taye grew up in a nation scarred by war and famine. The pain and suffering of others has been etched into his mind and onto his canvases.

"The hidden feelings are what I paint," the 32-year-old says. "My goal is not to be an artist. My goal is to examine complicated feelings. Paint is what gives expression to these emotions. I will paint as long I feel the need to find a solution for this problem."

Taye's work is being shown in the United States for the first time at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in Atlanta until September 28. The exhibition, "Daniel's Eye," is a passionate look at the world. "The ideas I paint are dark," he says. "That is the reality. The images are universal: beauty, pain, anger and sadness."

Taye's talent caught the attention of his homeland when he was just a child. He won first place in a government-sponsored art contest, and decided to devote his life to art.

"As you look at his work, you'll see some of the changes that his country has gone through," says Joseph Jordan, an Atlanta Africana art expert.

Taye has lived through Ethiopia's communist regime and, most recently, his country's two-year border conflict with Eritrea. He saw millions left homeless by the war, many permanently maimed by landmines.

But much of Taye's inspiration has come from places far outside Ethiopia. His interest in people that society shuns has inspired paintings with subjects that resonate around the world.

"He is Ethiopian but his artwork is very global," says Atlanta resident Merat Kebede, an Ethiopian art expert. "I can identify some of his work with some European paintings, some Asian, some African, some Ethiopian. So it's not just typically Ethiopian."

Taye's paintings fetch between $5,000 and $10,000.

Taye plans to return to his home in Addis Ababa next month. He wants to turn an abandoned military building into a creative arts center where other artists can display their work.

From Stacey Wilkins
CNN Correspondent