An Algerian woman with pursed lips and downcast eyes, encircled in kohl, stares into the distance in quiet contemplation. She holds her hands together against her abdomen in a self-contained posture. She is dressed in traditional Amazigh garb and jewellery that the celebrated Algerian painter Mohammed Issiakhem renders with exquisite attention to the tactile nature of layered fabric. Through the use of a ghostly monochromatic palette infused with light, the figure is both framed by and blends into the wall against which she stands. Its details reveal graffiti-like references to the Algerian War (1954-1962), in particular its final turbulent year before Algeria gained independence from France.