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Lot Essay
No. 22 (Spaces for improvisation) belongs to Afra Al Dhaheri’s ongoing exploration of structure, repetition and the possibilities held within constraint. Made from cotton mesh stretched across a wooden support, the work occupies an intriguing space between drawing, painting and architecture. Its grid-like surface suggests a structure in the process of being formed, while the openness of the mesh prevents it from becoming entirely fixed. What appears at first to be a rigid architectural form remains permeable, allowing space, light and absence to become part of the composition. No. 22 was exhibited in a solo presentation of Al Dhaheri’s new work at Abu Dhabi Art in 2022.
For Al Dhaheri, architecture is closely tied to her experience of growing up in Abu Dhabi, a city transformed by rapid development and continual construction. Her practice reflects on the tension between permanence and change, as well as between rigour and fragility. In No. 22, these oppositions are embodied in the materials themselves: the wooden support establishes a sense of order and stability, while the cotton mesh introduces softness, flexibility and vulnerability. The work’s title is equally suggestive. An architectural ‘space’ is conventionally designed for a particular purpose, yet the idea of ‘improvisation’ opens it to possibility, movement and alteration. The structure becomes less a finished enclosure than a framework within which something unexpected might occur.
This tension is characteristic of Al Dhaheri’s process, in which repetition is used not simply to reproduce a form but to slow down the act of making and deepen attention to each stage of its development. No. 22 can therefore be understood as both structure and process: a space carefully constructed, yet deliberately left open to change.
Born in 1988 in Abu Dhabi, Afra Al Dhaheri is an Emirati multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, drawing, painting, installation, photography and printmaking. She holds an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and is an Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi.
Recent solo exhibitions include Restless Circle, Sharjah Art Foundation (2025), and Give Your Weight to the Ground, Green Art Gallery, Dubai (2023). She has participated in international biennales including the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (2026), Taipei Biennial (2025–26) and Aichi Triennale (2025). Her work is held in collections including Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; the Dubai Collection; and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation.
For Al Dhaheri, architecture is closely tied to her experience of growing up in Abu Dhabi, a city transformed by rapid development and continual construction. Her practice reflects on the tension between permanence and change, as well as between rigour and fragility. In No. 22, these oppositions are embodied in the materials themselves: the wooden support establishes a sense of order and stability, while the cotton mesh introduces softness, flexibility and vulnerability. The work’s title is equally suggestive. An architectural ‘space’ is conventionally designed for a particular purpose, yet the idea of ‘improvisation’ opens it to possibility, movement and alteration. The structure becomes less a finished enclosure than a framework within which something unexpected might occur.
This tension is characteristic of Al Dhaheri’s process, in which repetition is used not simply to reproduce a form but to slow down the act of making and deepen attention to each stage of its development. No. 22 can therefore be understood as both structure and process: a space carefully constructed, yet deliberately left open to change.
Born in 1988 in Abu Dhabi, Afra Al Dhaheri is an Emirati multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, drawing, painting, installation, photography and printmaking. She holds an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and is an Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi.
Recent solo exhibitions include Restless Circle, Sharjah Art Foundation (2025), and Give Your Weight to the Ground, Green Art Gallery, Dubai (2023). She has participated in international biennales including the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (2026), Taipei Biennial (2025–26) and Aichi Triennale (2025). Her work is held in collections including Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; the Dubai Collection; and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation.