Hana El-Sagini on Trauma, Ceramics, and the Body in 'Counting Fingers'

Egyptian artist Hana El-Sagini discusses her exhibition 'Counting Fingers' at 421 in Dubai, her first major body of work in ceramics, and how personal experiences of loss and illness shape her practice. After leaving a corporate career in 2014 to care for her artist father, his death two months later prompted a deep exploration of trauma and change. Her 2022 MFA graduation project, 'A Dialogue Between A Wooden Moth and Blue Slippers,' used materials to explore power dynamics. Audience engagement became central after a 2018 installation, 'The Bathroom Trip,' where viewers stepped between wooden figures. In 2019, she recreated her family home at Zamalek Art Gallery in Cairo. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022, El-Sagini turned to ceramics for 'Counting Fingers,' which transforms the gallery into a surreal hospital waiting area with functional objects like an aquarium. The work reflects on the body's fragility, imperfection, and the blurring of human and object. The exhibition runs until 28 April.