Artist Susan Hefuna's Egyptian inspiration

Susan Hefuna’s artwork is difficult to put your finger on. While her ink drawings - fragile lines, dashes and dots overlain on layers of tracing paper - are delicate and delectable, her sculptural, photographic, digital and video works have a stronger air, without losing the ‘look twice’ appeal her pieces are famous for. We catch up with the artist, who is currently in Dubai to open her new exhibition Cairo Dreams 2011 at The Third Line.

I don’t see myself as being… anything other than an artist.

I started drawing… as a child and never stopped. I studied art in the late 80s and started working full time as an artist in 1990. I was one of those people who never had to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. Becoming an artist was totally organic and natural.

Art is… beyond words. I would even go as far as to say it’s beyond anything and everything.

I am inspired by… many things. I live between New York, Cairo and Dusseldorf in Germany and each of these places’ cultures give me a fresh perspective. I enjoy being able to leave a city and come back to it again as it gives me the distance I need to absorb what I see there. At the same time I am deeply inspired by maps, biological structures and the human body.

If I could draw anyone it would be… Om Kalthoum, the Egyptian singer. She was a great vocalist and a great inspiration to me and many other people around the world.

My favourite medium is… ink and paper. They are such simple materials yet the results and variations in using them are unlimited.

My work is… directly related to reality but abstract at the same time. It deals with different cultures and the different meanings people from those cultures give to it.

My favourite space is… not any one place. I enjoy a combination of places and I can’t stay in one location for very long. When I work in Egypt my art is different, when I work in Germany it changes, and when I work in New York it changes again.

Sculpture is… an important experience in my personal development as an artist. I draw in layers on paper, which is basically a form of sculpture already, but it was important for me to take my drawings from paper to aluminium sculpture for this exhibition. The aluminium sculptures I create are cut out in one go and the lines and forms are all connected, so making them is an incredibly meditative time for me as it requires intense concentration.

If I could travel anywhere I would… go to India. I’ve not been there before and I think the richness in the culture would really inspire me.

My most recent exhibition… is Cairo Dreams 2011 at The Third Line until June 16.

Visit www.thethirdline.com or call 04 341 1367 for more information.