ESRAA ELFEKY (EG, 1989)
Residency period: May – July 2023
During her residency at La Becque, Esraa Elfeky developed her project What Is Beyond You. Initiated in the Saint Katherine Protectorate national park in Egypt’s Sinai region, the project sees Elfeky touch upon the field of natural history while investigating the life cycle of rare species of butterflies found in the region. Elfeky questions how can human and non-human bodies can morph into other bodies and how beings relate to each other, directly or indirectly.
By documenting and comparing the behavior and life cycles of these butterflies, I’m looking to access to the diverse worlds that are mediated through the insects and their bodies, this kind of being in a landscape and a sense of belonging to a cosmos. I’m curious about surviving and adapting in catastrophe situations, and this exists a lot in fauna worlds. — Esraa Elfeky
Egyptian multimedia artist Esraa Elfeky’s work unearths the complex relationships that exist between the natural world, the body, time, and the urban environment. In recent years, Elfeky has focused on creating immersive experiences through installations using a multitude of materials. She has worked with a variety of mediums including video, sculpture, found objects, drawing and textiles, and has navigated themes such as the apocalypse, decay, and resurrection as an ongoing exploration of her country. In her work, the often-overlooked desert and mountain landscapes of Egypt become a site for imagination, solitude, storytelling, and reflection on historical and political events.
Portrait Esraa Elfeky, photo Matthieu Croizier
Open Studios, photos Esraa Elfeky
Esraa Elfeky, stills “What Is Beyond You”