For Saudi-born artist Hayfa Algwaiz, space is never empty. Every wall, window, and doorway carries a memory, a boundary, and a story waiting to be told. Trained as an architect and now working as a visual artist, Algwaiz transforms ordinary interiors and in-between spaces into emotional landscapes that speak of identity, privacy, and womanhood.

Her journey began in architecture studios and global exhibitions, where she worked with installations and urban structures. Yet she soon realised that her true passion lay in visual storytelling. When she returned to Saudi Arabia, she started observing the built environment differently: how rooms are arranged, how light enters, how screens divide public and private life. These details, often overlooked, became the heart of her artistic language.

Algwaiz’s work exists in the tension between inside and outside. She paints thresholds—windows, doors, hallways, screens—spaces that separate yet connect. These liminal zones represent the emotional space many women inhabit: seen but unseen, present yet protected. Through her photorealistic style, she captures places as they truly are, while leaving subtle traces of the painting process visible, reminding the viewer that memory is never complete.

One of her most striking works transforms a simple restaurant scene into a powerful commentary on objectification. A hanging piece of meat, resembling a woman’s form, becomes a symbol of how women are often viewed and consumed by society. Bright colours mask a deeper discomfort, forcing the viewer to question how bodies are seen and valued.

In her Al Balad-inspired series, Algwaiz explores historic windows, gates, and layered façades. What may be viewed elsewhere as ornamentation, she reclaims as a symbol of protection and belonging. These decorative elements become guardians of privacy, reflecting cultural values rather than aesthetic trends.

Her domestic paintings are deeply personal. Many feature empty rooms filled with presence rather than people. Objects such as an abaya resting on a chair carry emotional weight, representing both concealment and release. For Algwaiz, the home is the only place where the outer world falls away, and the self can breathe freely.

Beyond painting, she experiments with video and digital media, turning childhood memories into 3D spaces where light, shadow, and error are embraced. Each medium becomes another way of asking the same question: How do spaces shape who we are?

Through her art, Hayfa Algwaiz invites us to look again at the rooms we pass through every day—and to see them not as silent structures, but as living witnesses of our stories.