Egypt's unemployment rate falls in Q2 '25 – CAPMAS    EGP swings vs. USD in early Sunday trade    EGX launches 1st phone app    Egypt achieves record primary budget surplus of EGP 629bn despite sharp fall in Suez Canal revenues    Escalation in Gaza, West Bank as Israeli strikes continue amid mounting international criticism    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Resumption of production at El Nasr marks strategic step towards localising automotive industry: El-Shimy    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, UNDP discuss outcomes of joint projects, future environmental cooperation    United Bank achieves EGP 1.51bn net profit in H1 2025, up 26.9% year-on-year    After Putin summit, Trump says peace deal is best way to end Ukraine war    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Jordan condemns Israeli PM remarks on 'Greater Israel'    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, bilateral ties in calls with Saudi, South African counterparts    Egypt prepares to tackle seasonal air pollution in Nile Delta    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt, Colombia discuss medical support for Palestinians injured in Gaza    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt's govt. issues licensing controls for used cooking oil activities    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Egypt's Sisi: Egypt is gateway for aid to Gaza, not displacement    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



''Freak Show'' laments lost humanity
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 02 - 02 - 2010

“People have become behavior freaks and, in the process, have lost their humanity,” laments 32-year-old artist Shirine Mahmud during her first sculpture exhibition, "The Freak Show," at Cairo Atelier downtown. Her strikingly disturbing sculptures made of pottery and papier mâché will be exhibited on the ground floor of the gallery until February 5.
“The Scream,” “Sarcastic,” “I used to be beautiful” and “Hatred” are some of the sculptures' names that express the gloom captured in her work. The nonplussed visitor is immediately surrounded by distorted lips, exasperated nostrils, cold eyes, nasty frowns and hollow cheeks that are sculpted and painted in papier mâché.
“I have always been both fascinated and terrified by people's dark expressions. I started this pottery/papier mâché project a year and a half ago to let these feelings out of me,” recalls the artist, covering an angry sculpted face with her hand. “I am scared of what people have become. It must have been different in the past, when people were more able to care, to love, to be merciful,” she adds with a fading smile.
She quickly turns and points to the sculpture entitled “The Scream” that bears a striking resemblance to Edvard Munch's famous painting with the same name. The rough greenish face is elongated by a screaming mouth that looks like a door to hell: huge and black as ink. Passing her finger over the sculpture's hollow cheek, Shirine whispers “this is me, this is what I feel most of the time.”
Her sculptures have an interesting contrast of smooth and rough surfaces, the rough part usually dominating. “My passion for pottery goes back to my student years at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Zamalek,” explains Shirine who graduated in 2000 from the sculpture department.
“All the clay pots that I used for this exhibition are my design, except the very first pot that I used which became this sculpture,” she explains, pointing at the egg-shaped head entitled “Sarcastic”. The clay pot is filled to the rim with paper, then covered with papier mâché and a layer of paint on the surface. The artist typically employs a mix of colors: silvery green, gold, red and pink. Rather than brightening these gloomy faces, the paint usually renders them scary and desperate.
“I used to be beautiful” is a particularly sad sculpture. An aged woman's withered face is covered with tacky purple, red and green makeup in an attempt to conceal the effects of time on her once perfect features and her firm, smooth skin. Her mouth is distorted by fright and incomprehension, while her eyelids are drooping and part of her face has been devoured by old age. “I made this sculpture when my aunt was dying,” says Shirine with a flash of sadness in her eyes. “She was once an amazingly beautiful woman, but age and sickness struck her and tore apart her appearance and her personality…she was no longer the same woman.”
Some of the faces have lost all humanity in the sculpting process, like the one entitled “Cold” whose features have melted like butter under the sun. What remains is a bland mass of lump flesh that slowly drips like Salvador Dali's surrealist melting clocks.
“The picture that I see around me is very dark,” affirms the artist, unsurprisingly. Turning to a half-bare sculpture named “Lost Identity”, she explains that this one “stands for a very disturbed person, as a part of his face is missing.” Shirine apologizes for her inability to better discuss her work of art. The papier mâché covers the clay pot except on the left side where the face is left bare. While its aesthetic impact may not be the most impressive, this exhibition is worth seeing for the powerful message and multiple emotions it conveys.
Shirine's sculptures can be seen until February 5 at Cairo Atelier (2 Karim Al Dawla St. Downtown
02-25746730), from 5pm to 11pm.


Clic here to read the story from its source.