EGYPT - Naglaa Ezzat (b.1975) is a master of graphite technique whose work in this exhibition elicits a very visceral response. Her “Lonesome Series”, which includes Old Window, Leave Me and Lonesome, features sinewy forms that resemble roots, veins or muscles. In Leave Me these forms have a strangle hold on the woman, seemingly immobilizing her. This piece reeks of despair. Lonesome depicts a fearful, sad woman with her head on a chair with less constricting cords around her waist. Fissures in the wood-like floor suggest an earthquake has occurred, but the woman seems fated to remain in place, unable to choose the difficult path to freedom. Old Window shows a forlorn young woman leaning out a deteriorating window hoping, perhaps, that someone will come by or something will change. Naglaa considers all three women trapped by their own perceptions. Beshtak Palace, a piece that many people mistake for a photograph, depicts a real place in old Cairo now called “Al Hussein.” It shows a serene, contemplative, traditionally garbed young woman lost in thought. Features from Egypt is a surrealist drawing of a woman from the countryside wearing interesting ethnic jewelry. Silver is an important element of adornment, and we see an echo of the neckpiece in the lines above the woman’s head. This illustrates the way Naglaa tries to break the classic mold of portraiture, spontaneously incorporating additional motifs and designs.