Thoraia Abou Bakr
Hend El Falafly’s collection titled Silence of Tunes at the Safar Khan Gallery, in which she highlights women in her mixed-media paintings, is a thing of beauty. The paintings focus on women’s movement and together with El Falafly’s symbolic use of colour the paintings make up an intriguing collection.
“I have formed my style of body language in the technical focal point between what I want to say, and what I can offer to the recipient through the movements and expressions of people in my artworks,” said El Falafly on the gallery’s website.
“The pencils used are simple material, which is also a part of my society that simply express it; the realisation of the emotional state in this quantum of enormous density of pencil lines. On the other hand it reflects this huge intensity of social relations in our society, particularly the East and Egypt.”
Her use of vivid colours, interesting perspectives and light brush movements highlight the serene beauty of her subjects. All the paintings are a mix between the use of pencil and acrylic, and despite the vividness of the colours they do not overpower the paintings or overshadow the pencil’s shading.
Some paintings have two or three perspectives, showing the movements of the subject which make the paintings seem animated. In addition, her meticulous use of shading and attention to detail render her artwork an intriguing trait. One can look at El Falafly’s collection for hours.
“Realism is what worries me, El Falafly said on the website. “I wanted to express those [women] in a Middle Eastern community.”
“At first, I was able to express collective or individual cases of the Egyptian society to which I belong, which includes drawing and paintings, people and landscapes, that inspired the human spirit, and evidence of its presence in the place.”
El Falafly makes great use of the female figure without objectifying it, and despite the delicacy of her subjects, they do not seem weak. All the paintings, except one, feature solitary women. The last painting features a band of women whose faces are hidden. The painting is called “Together Against”. In a sub-collection called “Four of Liberal Movements”, she uses black in two portraits.
The intensity of the colour makes the painting very eye-catching; however it does not dull down the details. Another painting features a girl sleeping inside a chest of drawers. The artist juxtaposes the immense size of the chest of drawers with tightness of the confinement.
El Falafly’s Silence of Tunes is on display at Safar Khan Gallery in Zamalek.
