Elements of reality and fantasy are woven into visually alluring form in the artwork of interdisciplinary artist Lara Baladi. With a focus on photography and multimedia, Baladi creates photomontage, video and installation works that often straddle the past and present and draw the viewer into a dizzying array of narratives.

A mix of Egyptian and Lebanese origin, Baladi photographs and meticulously arranges found imagery in a way that portrays the chaotic realities of the world in a coherent, mythological manner. She explores the pervasive nature of time in pieces that express the past, observe the present and envisage the future.

In 'Oum El Dounia'–which means ‘Mother of the World’ in Arabic and is often used as a reference to Egypt in popular culture–one of the many subjects Baladi deals with is the Biblical concept of the third day of creation, when water and earth were separated, allowing humanity to begin. A flaming orange and blue landscape, a sheesha smoker in a purple cocoon and a luminous mermaid comprise some of the peculiar characters of her imagined world.

Baladi, who lives and works in Cairo,has exhibited widely in the Middle East, Europe, Japan, Australia and the United States.