My work is concerned with the connections between evocations of time and place, experiences of displacement and the shaping of individual and collective identities. I am particularly interested in the ways in which memory and nostalgia function to both reinforce and subvert hegemonic narratives of class, race and location and how singular notions of "the past" shape and are shaped by the possibilities contained within multiple presents and possible futures. A recurring feature of my paintings, installations and mixed media pieces is the use of raw materials-sand, wood, spices and wax- chosen both for their association with rural southern Egypt, where I grew up and for their suggestion of primitiveness. The use of such materials draws on my own individual memories of time and place, speaks to collective local histories and plays with common stereotypes of Egypt's rural population as being both backward and the living embodiment of authentic Egyptian culture.

Mohammed el Ganouby
Wax on Wood Artist