Shalabia Ibrahim born 1944, Monufia governorate, Egypt is a self-taught Egyptian painter renowned for her expressive and intuitive work in watercolour and mixed media. She began drawing in her youth and, without formal academic training, developed her artistic voice through personal exploration and imaginative observation. Her early creative journey was nurtured in part by her marriage to Syrian artist Nazir Nabaa, who encouraged her to pursue her art more seriously and exhibit her work publicly. Ibrahim’s work is distinguished by minimal lines, colour spaces, and an organic fluidity that reflects both simplicity and emotional depth. Drawing inspiration from her rural upbringing along the Nile Delta and the rich myths and tales of her childhood, her paintings often depict female figures as symbols of earth, motherhood, renewal, and life cycles. Described by curators as carefree and spontaneous, her artistic philosophy embraces imagination and the “magical world full of details and scenes that is never exhausted. Shalabia Ibrahim’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Egypt, Europe and the Middle East, and her paintings are included in private and institutional collections internationally.