Childhood to motherhood: Aidha Badr evolves at Firetti Contemporary show

Firetti Contemporary, in collaboration with Hunna Art Gallery, is presenting I'm Never Coming Back, a solo exhibition by artist Aidha Badr, Sept. 19-Nov. 7. Motherhood marks a quiet yet profound transformation, arriving without ceremony, altering the texture of life and the weight of thoughts until even the smallest parts of oneself perhaps feel unfamiliar, being carefully rearranged, though not replaced.

- Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

In I'm Never Coming Back, Aidha Badr paints from this perspective, between the daughter she once was and the mother she is becoming. Her works unfold like diary entries, fragile, unfiltered, and emotionally bared. They capture her disorientation or new orientation, of silent unravelling of a previous self and the remaking of identity that moves between what has passed and what is still taking form.

Badr’s earlier practice focused on untangling the roots of female desire and exploring the intricacies of the daughter-mother relationship, notably by scrutinising the way the maternal figure and its representations play a significant role in childhood and the early stages of a girl's development. In this new body of work, her lens shifts inwards. Now painting as a mother herself, the canvases become a space to project her own vulnerabilities, reflections, and lived experiences. They are intimate territories where personal memory, maternal identity, and self-exploration, intersect.

The self-portraits which appear in the show are fragmented, portraying the artist as a distant Madonna - aloof, protective, and enigmatic. Cropped tightly and rendered with measured restraint, they withhold intimacy, while conveying quiet authority. Handwritten text punctuates the paintings, echoing fragments of the artist's inner monologue such as Stay with me a little longer or Nothing ever happens. The words trace the subtle shifts of identity that motherhood brings in its wake.