Ermias was born in 1970 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is a painter, engraver and a sculptor. Ekube uses acryclic,oil,water and colour for his paintings, linocut and wood cut for his engravings and clay modelling and canvas for his sculptors. He is also a poet.
He studied art at Addis Ababa school of fine arts in 1986-1990 although he did portraiture quite well even before attending Addis Ababa University. He uses Figurative stlye in his works and applies other different techniques as well.
Ermias has participated in various exhibitions. Some include: in 1991 a group exhibition as well as over 20 solo exhibitions in Ethiopia,Tanzania,Kenya, Switzerland and Denmark. Awards that he has won include 2nd position price for the Manjano Art Competition in Nairobi in 2013. He was also a co-founder of Asmaral School of the Arts in 1994.