Assouan

At Aswan, where the Nile crosses its first cataracts, the temples raised columns crowned with open-papyrus capitals. Chrystiane Charles has cast one in gilt bronze: a sheaf of tight stems opening at the top into a fan, bound at its middle as the papyrus umbels once were. The bronze is chased down to the smallest vein. The rectangular metal shade lays its horizontal over this vegetal capital. The light reveals its dense relief.