Yegizaw Michael was born in 1968 in Addis Ababa, where he grew up and studied for three years at the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts. In 1990, due to the worsening political situation in Ethiopia, Yegizaw fled to exile in the neighboring country of Kenya, where he lived for the last 8 years and refined his artistic talents. Yegizaw currently makes his home in his homeland of Eritrea and Kenya.

Yegizaw has exhibited his art in Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, the US, and Austria and has won numerous prizes and Awards. In 1995 he was the Best Artist of the Year in Kenya. He also won Eritrea's Raimok National Art award for 1996 and 1997. His commissioned works include mosaic as well as mural paintings in Nairobi, Kenya, decorating banks, hotels, various institutions and residential places. Yegizaw has also done set designs for different theatre groups.

In 1997 Yegizaw was the initiator, organizer and artist director of "Artists Against AIDS" national awareness campaign in Eritrea. The United Nations Population Fund, the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students, and UNAids sponsored this campaign. Artists Against AIDS involved over 30 artists, musicians and poets who collaborated in a nation-wide campaign to educate and sensitize people about the scourge of AIDS. Currently, Yegizaw is an active member of Segen artist's group in Eritrea, and the "Theater Workshop Productions" and "Payapa Art Center" in Nairobi, Kenya. Yegizaw is also a founding member of International Developing Enterprises for Artists (IDEA) based in Vienna, and a member of the organizing committee for "Art Expo 2000 Vienna Biennele 1999." Yegizaw is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Africa World Press/Red Sea Press.