nOURHAN YAHIA
Nourhan Yahia Thoughtful and sensitive, artist Nourhan Yahia’s lovely paintings are intimate portraits of Egyptians in their quiet moments. Individuals and children read from the Koran and pick flowers in a field, immersed in the stillness of their environment or the silence of contemplation. Her “Siwa Women” inspired painting is full of vibrant embellishments and embroidered tapestry that is both exuberant and stifling, reminiscent in moments of both Shiele and Klimt, while not shying away from showing the females as though suffocating behind shrouds of dense fabrics. In a triptych depicting a Nubian woman and man, the texture of a wall and its colorful patterns are emphasized, along with the scratches that create a sense of time: “it’s like history, everyone passed or lived beside the wall and so did his scratches and memories.” Culture and heritage are important to Nourhan, and she creates dense paintings full of enrichments that saturate the images with a distinctive Egyptian ambiance, moody and nostalgic. With a confident paintbrush, Nourhan’s paintings are full of an integrity, honoring the people she depicts and her own sentimental emotions for her homeland. —D.N.
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