After a vigorous selection process, in which an esteemed selection committee cast their votes for the 12 ANNA Award 2023 finalists, the jury is out. Nada Baraka, an Egyptian artist based in Cairo, is the 2023 ANNA Award recipient.
Baraka makes paintings that maintain an endless, active state of flux, swaying between abstract and surreal with her evocative application and vivid use of colours. Baraka seeks to generate forms in new contexts as a means to challenge and deconstruct the obvious, and tease meaning out of absurdity.
Nada Baraka, Kaleidoscope of horror I
“This award validated a lot of my own struggles and hard work, and quelled my doubts. My mind can’t grasp that I actually won.”
NADA BARAKA
Fluctuations of emotions triggered by various experiences build up to a narrative that eludes interpretation. The core of her work is this process that seeks to narrate an experience through expressionist brushwork and surrealist methodology. A central aspect in those narratives is the concept of eruption, appearing as distorted forms, body parts, colours or layers, all bathed in a fluidity that is punctuated with striking detail.