Galila was born in Cairo, to a family of filmmakers. After getting her BA in Psychology from the AUC in 1985, Galila went on to study drawing and painting at the Magd El Sigini studio and then oil painting and portraiture at Central St. Martin’s in London, UK. 

 

Galila’s interest in portraiture lies in the tension between the latent and the manifest; on the one hand the persona that is presented in a pose or captured snapshot, and on another hand the real person behind it.

 

She chooses to paint from selected photographs that allow her to see beyond the pose and create a narrative of her own.  Through a detail of a look or a posture, she attempts to find a universal human emotion or a drama specific to a particular time or context.  People are what the world is about. Painting them is her way of trying to understand the world we live in.