Nour Jaouda

Nour Jaouda’s work intertwines lived experience with artistic expression, shaped by her constant navigation between tangible places and memories. Using rich, earthy hues and textiles as her medium, she delves into themes of proximity and separation, existence and absence, as well as the cycles of breaking down and rebuilding. Her practice embodies the paradox of feeling both grounded and displaced, capturing the ongoing evolution of identity in flux. Central to her art are ideas of displacement and endurance, destruction and renewal, and an overarching sense of timelessness. Jaouda embraces the slow, tactile process of creating hand-dyed fabrics, which carry a sense of continuity and spirituality—textiles for her symbolize an endless cycle without clear origin or end. The natural dyes she employs bring unpredictability and vitality, activating the surfaces with layered colors that are simultaneously deep, luminous, shadowed, and ethereal—much like the complex nature of memory itself. Straddling the boundaries between sculpture and painting, her expansive dyed tapestries echo the form of prayer mats found in her Cairo surroundings. By incorporating steel components she both forges and collects locally, Jaouda’s work bridges intimate personal stories with broader social histories, merging past and present in a poetic dialogue. ...

The Approach is co-directed by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson. Located in Bethnal Green above The Approach Tavern, for over twenty years it has operated an internationally recognised programme from its East London base. The gallery is known for discovering artists and establishing their careers as well as making inter-generational curated group shows a strong focus. The list of represented artists includes the Estates of important overlooked female artists Heidi Bucher and Maria Pinińska Bereś, as well as seminal British collage artist John Stezaker, together with established and emerging artists including Magali Reus, Peter Davies, Lisa Oppenheim, Sandra Mujinga, Pam Evelyn, Sara Cwynar, Sam Windett and Caitlin Keogh. Over the years the gallery has operated parallel programmes in additional gallery spaces in London’s West End (The Approach W1) and in Shoreditch (The Reliance). The gallery is currently based solely in its original East End location and continues to expand its programme, showcasing its represented artists in the main gallery space, and both represented and non-represented artists in The Annexe, a smaller, more experimental space at the back of the building. ...