Rana Ashraf moves through the realm of fears and doubts tiptoeing. With delicacy and sensitivity she brings to the surface the struggle we all experience living with ourselves. “This person“, the faceless character who inhabits her artworks, is the portrait of every person who question themselves. It expresses the attempt of building and re-building a personality, trying to find a balance between social pressures and self expectations.
Self-taught visual artist, Rana Ashraf moves between illustration, text-work and analogue photography. Her work has been exhibited in two biennials in 2018: Dak’Art – Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain in Dakar, Senegal and Something Else OFF Biennial Cairo in Cairo, Egypt. In 2019 she received a grant from the Doha film Institute to realise her first animated film. Rana is also an amateur poet, a performer and an aspiring filmmaker and writer. She formally studied public governance and is currently working in a community development project for refugees in Egypt.
With her work, Rana, is able to speak directly to people’ souls, pushing the viewers to reconnect with their emotions. She guides us through a process of acceptance and reconciliation. Her message is powerful and while she leads us to better understand our inner self she also reminds us that, even if we feel alone, we are not.
Metropolis Contemporary Art Gallery 