Lot 124: Susan Hefuna (Egyptian/German, b. 1962)

Susan Hefuna (Egyptian/German, b. 1962)
Woman Cairo
signed and dated 'S.Hefuna 2006' (on the reverse)
hand made wood carving and black ink
83 x 78¾in. (211 x 200cm.)
Executed in 2006

"Most human beings are not able to see the world without a screen of social and cultural projections." (Susan Hefuna)

Susan Hefuna's mashribiya work explores the theme of identity, and the screens and boundaries which create and conceal it. She incorporates text both English and Arabic into the traditionally Arabic mashrabiya. In so doing, Hefuna at once opens up the possibility of dialogue between the two, but also introducing a foreign element into a domestic device whose function is to hide and protect. The phrases are easily legible at a distance, but are lost when one approaches the work, which suggest that close up the reality of home might not quite equal the expectation from a distance.
To create these screens, Hefuna works closely with craftsmen in Cairo, who these days usually make only small mashribiya panels for furntiture furniture rather than architectural ensembles. She provides them with 1:1 sketches showing the exact patterns and sizes of the finished piece. Hefuna has thus helped revive this dormant art form.