Bassam Al Selawi’s intricate sculptures play with light in a whole new way. Andy Mills finds out more about his four-dimensional resin carvings.
If you take a look at one of Bassam Al Selawi’s shadow sculptures you can be forgiven for thinking they’re some kind of installation; a beautiful carving of Arabic calligraphy mounted on the wall, a silhouette painted behind it and some drama added through the use of a spotlight.
When you realize that the spotlight is in fact casting a shadow, a shadow you may have wrongly presumed was a painted silhouette, the true ingenuity shines through. Or perhaps it doesn’t, literally speaking. ‘There are shadow artists around the world who do installations to create shadow images, but not like a wall sculpture,’ Bassam says. ‘This concept is new… it’s my own creation.’
The process involves initial sketches to decide what the sculpture will be and what the shadow it casts will look like. Bassam then sets about carving the clay under a spotlight, proving beyond doubt that men can multi-task as he has to form the sculpture while simultaneously sculpting the shape of the shadow. Once the clay is finished he takes a resin mould which then forms the final piece.
He points out that his work holds even greater complexity than onlookers may perceive at first in the fact that the sculptures, which are phrases from the Quran in Arabic calligraphy, must match the meaning of the shadows they project.
‘I can say that my sculptures are 4D sculptures; the fourth dimension being the shadow of the words. It does reflect the same image that is printed in our mind when we read the words,’ he explains. Those images range from Muslim worshippers to men riding horses or camels.
The other image perhaps printed in viewers’ minds is what the price tag looks like. Each of his sculptures sell for between Dhs1,200 and Dhs5,000 if it’s one of his unlimited runs of moulds. However, he also produces customised unique pieces and limited edition runs in bronze or silver and gold plating which, in his words, ‘are a different price’. If you have to ask…
The 42-year-old artist, originally from Jordan, gained a degree in ceramic sculpture from the fine arts department of Yarmouk University, and is currently the applied arts manager at the Abu Dhabi Art Hub (ADAH).
This means that he’s more than just a working artist, he’s also working hard to pass on a lot of his skills with ceramics, pottery and sculpture to local students. He’s not limited to just sculpting in clay or resin either. In his last exhibition in Jordan back in 2011 he used paper collage to create portraits of the Arab world, a number of which were bought for public display by the La Storia history museum there.
If you hurry though, you don’t have to travel quite so far to see Bassam’s work for yourself. Until August 15 his shadow sculptures are on display at Rosewood Abu Dhabi, and if you miss that there is an ever-present collection in a dedicated shop at the ADAH.
Rosewood Abu Dhabi, Al Maryah Island (02 813 5550). Abu Dhabi Art Hub, Mussafah www.adah.ae.
Art of light
If you like Bassam’s work, take a look online at some of the creations of these other artists; all of them using light or shadows to enhance or create their art.
Anastassia Elias
Parisian artist creating miniature silhouette scenes inside old toilet rolls that look amazing when backlit.
Gabriel Dawe
Installs thousands of lines of thread into different buildings, the effect is like a permanent light spectrum spilling through the room.
Makoto Tojiki
Hundreds of small LEDs suspended on wires create incredible 3D light sculptures in his No Shadow series.
