Azza Abo Rabieh + Nelsy Massoud at Saleh Barakat Gallery

An entry about “Yearning” by Azza Abo Rabieh:

“Melodic”, was the word that resonated in my mind when I saw the first artwork by Azza Abo Rabieh.

“Melodic, the way a Paul Klee painting makes sounds in your head when you see it,” I thought. And yet, this is not a Paul Klee painting.

“Whimsical.”

The artist is playing. She manipulates sensitive media effortlessly; well she makes it look effortless. It looks like the labour of a lace-maker: something so sensitive to put together, one forgets the effort and just indulges in the fantasy of beholding the lace.

Somewhere between the prints, the tulle, the threads, the ink, the watercolour, the etchings, and the aquatint, Azza has created a world of escape. Think of the experience of reading “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for the first time. As an adult. Did it not remind you of your childhood? Did it not recreate the fantasy world of childhood in a way, and yet its depth and pain could only be grasped as an adult?

Seeing this show was similar to that. I felt myself in a world of childhood magic, and yet underneath the layers of surface and line, I felt a resonant pain. For a moment, this pain was also mine.

Thank you, Azza.