Leila Gerges: Beautiful Boundaries, The Portal Series

This series by artist Leila Gerges explores architectural threshold spaces, particularly those forms that are decorative yet function as symbols of protection and control.

Constructed through walking-based research across Mexico, the portal works draw together photographic fragments gathered over time. The rejas (wrought iron grilles) recur as barriers separating the private from the public. Here beauty softens boundaries but still holds distance in place.

These forms reflect how we approach, withdraw, or remain at a distance. Individual moments and places are layered, allowing different sites and times to coexist within a single surface. Rather than depicting particular locations, the collages create spaces that can be entered imaginatively.

Sitting somewhere between architecture and intimacy, the portal works act as thresholds that hold pattern, memory, and the possibility of contact.

Launch Thursday 5 February, 5.30pm to 7pm.