This oil painting blends portrait realism with the visual language of antiquity via jewelry, music, smoke, and Egyptian pyramids to frame a near-mythic woman as both person and symbol. The pyramids act like a condensed sign of lineage like history made monumental while incense suggests ritual, remembrance, and continuity. Dropped slippers and a kneeling pose add tenderness and humanity to the “royal” staging, shifting the emphasis from dominance to presence and poise. A young woman is shown kneeling on a patterned ground covering, her body turned three-quarters while her face angles outward with a steady, peaceful calm. Her black hair is tucked beneath a richly patterned gold-colored headdress topped by a long feather that arcs upward. Gold hoop earrings, stacked bracelets, and a layered necklace catch warm light, echoing gilded accents woven through her sash and belt. Cream-colored fabric from her tunic pools in soft folds around her knees, painted with close attention to weight and sheen. One hand gracefully plucks faint strings of a tall, vertical harp, while the other steadies its ornate base including a stylized head. In front, sits a pair of golden pointed-toe slippers and to the right a brazier or incense burner sends up a ribbon of smoke. Behind her, multiple pyramids rise in the distance under a storm-dark sky, with a thin band of fiery light at the horizon. Painted in Iraq in 2002, the work’s crisp realism feels like intentional steadiness against an unsettled atmosphere for a carefully held image of endurance, where the distant glow at the horizon feels less like spectacle than a quiet, guarded hope. Iraqi artist Mozahim Al-Nasiri (مزاحم الناصري) was born in Mosul and trained at Baghdad’s Academy of Fine Arts. When this canvas was made, he was an independent painter, building a practice known for highly finished, psychologically attentive portraiture. He left Iraq in 2003, among those whose careers were reshaped by the country’s upheaval and dispersal.
“Pharaonic Girl (أميرة فرعونية)” by Mozahim Al-Nasiri (مزاحم الناصري) (Iraqi) - Oil on canvas / 2002 - Ibrahimi Collection (Amman, Jordan) #WomenInArt #IbrahimiCollection #MozahimAlNasiri #مزاحمالناصري #AlNasiri #AncientEgypt #IraqiArt #artText #artwork #BlueskyArt #IraqiArtist #PortraitofaWoman
![Iraqi artist Hayv Kahraman’s memories and experiences as a Middle Eastern woman inform her paintings which focus on the female body and its political and social significance. Born in Baghdad in 1981, her family fled Iraq during the Gulf War and found refuge in Sweden, where she grew up and learned to paint. Kahraman moved to Florence, Italy to study graphic design and now lives in the USA.
Kawliya is a traditional Iraqi dance that originated with the nomadic people of the same name, known throughout the Middle East for their talents in music and dance. Having experienced this dance as a girl, Kahraman has long celebrated this memory as a touchstone to her childhood.
The artwork presents a stylized slender woman whose pose is elegant yet slightly off-balance, one arm pointing upwards, the other hand on her long dark flowing hair. Her skin is pale with soft facial features while her elongated neck and limbs have fluidity. The dancer’s collage-like top is a yellow bodice with a repeating geometric pattern of small, stylized quatrefoils. Her skirt is light teal, decorated with an equally intricate Persian-inspired pattern. An understated simple beige background allows the woman and her dress to be our focus.
Due to her worldwide movement and displacement, a variety of artistic influences can be seen in her work: Japanese scrolls, Mannerist masterpieces, Persian illustrations, Arabic calligraphy, and Islamic mosaics.
In the artist’s words, “When I went [back] to Iraq, I felt like a tourist. In Sweden, I’m a tourist and here [in the USA] I am definitely a tourist. The merging of cultures in my art is a search for identity. I’ve never had a home.”
The females in Kahraman’s work are based on photographs the artist takes of herself. “I use my body as the primary tool,” she notes. Each woman in her work has a similar appearance—fleshy and graceful, with striking features, almost translucent skin, and elegant stances, all with a serene yet distant look on their face.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dtli5s7b2qnvvqcgh74ruri5/bafkreiclpwntzpzonpicxtdiyyl5yot7p6dal7js5juyxf7ulxyjxhddy4)
