No words, many images for exhibition, Munich: ‘Body and Soul’
Words and one picture
I didn’t think it through, how I was going to write 1600 plus words a day #nanowrimo as well as everything else that needs to be done. I am writing everyday though and that is itself a huge milestone. I am averaging about 1400 words each day. So I have just gone over the half way point writing 25 thousand words in 18 days. Sometimes it’s important to focus on what has been done, achieved than what hasn’t been done. It’s a good lesson to learn.
I have neglected this blog a little though, which I had thought might happen. It is a little unfortunate timing when we are about to have the first major solo show in Munich starting next week.
So the sculptor is also whizzing around, trying to tie up loose ends here with the business and then packing everything he needs for next week. Approximately 57 pieces will be packed into the van on before it goes over land and sea. The work gets loaded on Friday and the sculptor flies on Saturday. I am just praying the rain and wind will cease, a little at least. Again at each milestone we achieve with promoting the sculpture it’s important to remember just how far we have come.
Will aim to keep a little track of what will be happening in Germany next week (just to add to my to do list!)
Challenges: Nanowrimo, Solo exhibition & Surrey sculpture Society talk all in one month!
At the beginning of the year I started a 30 day yoga challenge which I did successfully and have repeated it throughout this year. At the beginning of September I gave myself the challenge of compiling a book of my own poems and pictures of my husband’s sculptures as a gift for my Father who had been suggesting it for a while.
I was really pleased with the finish of it though it felt quite thin and made me understand the word ‘volume’ a little bit more. I have come to realise that challenge for me needs to have some external pressure.
At University I spent most of my time rowing and would rise to the early morning alarm to train which happened 7 days a week. When I think of the 2k and 5k races we would compete in off the blocks we had adrenaline and excitement to fule the first few strokes and then we would hit a wall, pain in the legs, pain in the chest and we would row through it. Aided and assisted by words like ‘Dig deep’ ‘Pull harder’ which our cox would yell at us, we would dig deep and we would keep going beyond the lactic acid build up. We would pull past other boats competing against them and drive ourselves forward. Perhaps this competition took all competitiveness out of me but since then I haven’t quite given myself the same kind of challenges. My little daily yoga or writing challenges have been small by comparrison.
However on Sunday I started a new challenge which though not physical like rowing seems a huge challenge at the moment amogst everything else which is going on, which I will get to. I have started the Nanowrimo challenge (National novel writing month) where you aim to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I just happened to see an advert in a magazine for it and started to wonder if I was ready. I need this motivation but totally unplanned and unprepared I sat down on Sunday and wrote, thrilled I thought this was going to be easy but this was the adreneline and excitment out of the box. Second day I stalled. Conincidently, after being out of touch for a while my rowing cox, I discovered she is also doing this challenge and through the modern connectivity of technology is coxing me by email words of encouragement. So from a distance we are tapping away at the keyboards, scribbling out the words and so I prepare you for perhaps a more visual blog this month whilst my words get counted elsewhere.
The sculptor meanwhile on his own set of challenges, set by himself, in a very different way from my own, is preparing for his first solo exhibition this month in Munich. So we are busy getting lot of sculptures, paintings and words ready for this. So, if that wasn’t enough on our plate, to add something else to the pile of things to do in November and more immediately he is going down to Surrey tomorrow to deliver a talk. It has come around quicker than we expected having been in the diary for months. He is ready but yesterday I joked that I felt he was in denial about it. I always like using the word denial to the Egyptian, as I remember a friend making the pun about de’ Nile. Anyway, enough laughing we we’d better get ready, I am blatantly distracting myself from the novel and any preparation needed for tomorrow.
Paintings and Puppets
This is a week late in the posting as I have been a bit out of it for a few days. So it was actually two weekends ago that the boys and I took part in a puppet parade. Whenever I hear from others about interesting events they’ve taken part in or exciting adventures there is always that feeling that these things are good, happy, enjoyable, ‘perfect’ occasions. In a social media world where we upload images of a fleeting moment we can easily forget that life is not always easy breezy. I write this as a precursor to the fact that after two weekends of making the puppets or recycled 3D bugs which in itself had it’s own ups and downs.
The day of the parade my eldest, whom we had done this activity for was really not well. Despite this, I dragged him out with an additional reluctant younger son insisting on bringing his scooter.
I don’t think I had properly thought through the fact that a parade meant we would be walking through the streets with the world watching (or rather a select crowd of local puppet enthusiasts and families on outings). So I walked shyly with the butterfly my younger son and I had made, as he refused to help hanging his skeleton face-painted head over his scooter crying down the high street. Whilst my eldest son forced a smile through his shivering and looked the colour of his green coat suffering with the weight of his dragon fly. I pretend not to think that anyone saw them kicking each in the other in the shins mid parade as elder son increased in frustration at younger son’s lack of enthusiasm which caused disagreements and unsettlement mid walk. Big sigh. I then had to carry 2 puppets and a scooter, queue for pizza and wait for twenty minutes whilst the boys found a pew to watch a puppet performance. I am sure it was throughly entertaining but I failed to enter the packed marquee overladen with objects.
It’s this reality of emotion that we display visibly in our bodies and faces that my husband depicts in his sculptures and newly composed paintings. Paintings which have taken place in the back yard and now, kitchen as the October rain pours down to balance the sunny September we had. The kitchen floor is splattered with paint, the cereal bowls covered in cling film to keep colours fresh and brushes litter the sink. The reality of the artist’s house. The up side of this is enjoying having Baba at home working rather than at the studio or away. We have all enjoyed coming home from school to be greeted with Baba’s great smile and open arms and an occasional cooked tea! In the morning the boys have loved being involved in the decision making of colours and concepts to try.
Life is full of it’s high and low moments. I saw a great check list recently of when things overwhelm or over face us to remember the reality of the world around us.
So we change the thought; ‘I can’t move around the kitchen due to washing maiden and several 4ft canvases’ to a more positive, ‘but at least I have a house full of people in my life sharing a space which is warm and dry’. I have more washing up to do but at least we have food to eat and utensils to eat with. I am tired and achy and probably have what my son has but I have a strong immune system to fight infection and I am alive.
Witnessing today
This collection represents 10 children aged between four and nineteen. Either standing individually as sculptures alone or as a collective in one large sculpture.
In this concept the presentation is the human body as a vessel. Living in the 21 century we are now able to replace human parts, organs change our physical appearance but this doesn’t change the essence of who we are.
Our bodies are containers filled with emotions that have an impact on us. The colours used on these pieces are inspired by American minimalism in the 1900’s. They symbolize the emotion and the individual.
The sculptures are made from steel pipes used for building construction. The pipes sat in the studio staring at the sculptor and then the concept appeared. They were witnessing his actions. They are the human figure in the simplest form. Each piece has a name from the continents around the world, representing children who suffer directly or indirectly from the decisions and behaviour of adults. Which in turn affects them and their own experiences. What we witness or don’t witness in life shapes us and then make us who we are.
These columns are the bases of something, the foundations, pillars that hold up the building. Our children are the next generation, the future. What are they witnessing today?
The modern day is the witnessing of troubled times, but today specifically is a celebration of a legacy for millions around the world and a message for all of humanity.
“Witnesses” by Sam Shendi
Currently in exhibition at the ‘Adrien-Kavachinina Gallery‘, review of the exhibition and article to read in ‘Paris Match’ which the photo below was taken from.
Transporting transformation
There is a bite in the air, the season is changing. As my eldest son and I drove to swimming lessons the other night we spotted trees turning from their summer green into autumn shades. We saw a miraculous site of birds glistening in the sunset like pieces of glitter floating in one contained space. My son described them like ticks using his hands and saying it’s how Baba makes birds, he was transfixed. The shift from summer to autumn always feels more significant to me then any other season. It’s a reminder that all things fade away. We also had news this weekend of a family member in Egypt passed away. Deeply saddening, life changing news. But, there is always change. A kind of transportation, from one realm to another. Transformation.
“When change visits your life, you can be sure things are turning for the better. It may not look that way in the very moment change arrives, but if you will wait a while and have faith in the process, you will see that this is true.” (Taken from someone-lost the reference)
I have been thinking about this as my link to the transportation of sculptures. We’ve done so many trips to London (I write we but it’s the sculptor, the sculptures). I just sort out the congestion charges and ‘wo’-man the shop. Over the summer ‘we’ ventured into Europe with ‘a man with a van’ for exhibition in Germany. The sculptor flew out to meet them and then back out to pack them up. In a quick turn around ‘we’ then had pieces going to Paris.
I had a whimsical fantasies of going as well. In fact with this trip the sculptor didn’t go. We relied on the driver taking them to the gallery and the unload and unwrap happening without my husband. The exhibition opened last Friday. But really that is much more cost effective than having to fly out to meet the sculptures on the other side. It’s amazing how memories can take us to a place though. Thinking of Paris transports me to a time in my early twenties, still searching for myself. I took myself off with a black and white SLR and not enough warm clothing for a February weekend in Paris. Consequently the cold somehow lured me into a ‘Coiffeurs’ and I came out with my hair red.
Well as I reminisce, the reality of this trip was that the driver had problems finding the gallery so I had to practise my very rusty A-level French with a hotel reception staff which our gallery contact number went through to. I couldn’t ‘unlock the language’ and was a little disheartened, when he asked me if I preferred to speak English and he continued to speak in received pronunciation.
Yesterday the sculptor was down to London and back to take ‘Aphrodite’ to Passion of Freedom. At the end of the week he will be back down again for the opening and picking up other pieces to then go somewhere else. At the moment my husband is almost constantly on the road. I am loosing track as to where pieces are! The difficulty with sculpture is the cost and space of moving them from place to place. Transporting them.
There is something about the space that transforms the sculptures. Having space around them to be able to view from different angles makes all the difference to sculpture. Space, dimensions and time all have connections both in sculpture and thinking. Which links me nicely back to this autumn days which have come around so fast again. This year has past by me again making me reflect that I am still waiting for that moment of transformation. When I am totally in the present and not wishing away time or clock watching, waiting for the next milestone or event. I am definitely better at it than I was. The best of thinking is to reflect on creation ‘How am I’? Taking ourselves into account, especially when we don’t know what the future holds. If poetry, art, sculptures helps to give us those gentle remind us then it’s a useful vehicle. The chrysalises gradually transforms into the butterfly. Transporting us from one way of thinking to the next.
Everything but the kitchen sink
Seven weeks of summer holidays! Means that any single ideas for blog posts I have had, have not made it to the ‘publish’ button.
We started the holiday with a rare family day out to Newby Hall (first weekend of the holidays) to see the sculptures on site. With no prior planning we hadn’t realised it was also vintage car Raleigh day so it took a little longer to get there but thousands of cars to see in addition to ‘Baba’s sculptures’. We all went in ‘Baba’s car which was in itself an interesting experience. What is always good for me on these days out is how different we are in approaching ‘life’ and some practical issue are just so much easier done my husband’s way.
I write that in reflection as on our way back from taking Baba to the airport (nearly the end of week two) I took the boys to the (MOSI) Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. As I parked up literally outside the museum thinking it was rather lucky, we then had to search for the pay machine. I had just enough coins for two hours and had to take a moment to think. Was it worth moving the car to find a cheaper car park space and be able to have more time at the museum or take the risk of having only two hours using all my coins and the luxury of being right in front of the museum. I chose the latter (the kind of decision my husband wouldn’t even think twice about). Normally for some mad reason I usually choose the first kind of option. Two hours was plenty and being right next to the museum was definitely worth draining my coin supply.
We had several busy days whilst the sculptor was away which meant managing the shop, the boys and still doing fun holiday activities. The shop (our kitchen showroom Arabesque) was relatively straight forward for me to manage except for one issue I was having with a delivery for a customer. After several attempts at delivering a sink the company we were using kept getting it wrong. Hoping to have it sorted before the sculptor returned and setting off to Scotland, I practically wept when they said they couldn’t deliver it till the same day we were shutting shop.
After picking up the sculptor from the airport and rolling straight into an 11 hours drive up into the highlands packed up to the hilt, with to use the expression, ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ we got there to find a message from our fitter saying they had delivered the wrong sink AGAIN. I couldn’t believe it. So we started our holiday having to sort out the sink and ending it planning for Germany and Baden Baden.
However, the holiday was relaxing and the sculptor used natural resources to create:
I am now sat, seated, after a summer of boys comparing scratches and scrapes they collected from bikes, scooters and blackberry bushes feeling a strange bunch of emotions. Wishing I could write about the kitchen sink painters, I wrote an essay on them once and have tried to dig it out but can’t find it. They painted about day to day reality. Would have made such a nice link to my kitchen sink story and my ‘kitchen sink’ kind of blog entry. However, If I don’t finish this off it’s going to be next summer and already we’ve starting the next series of projects. Must click publish.
Baden-Baden, Pardon?
We have a children’s book called ‘The parrot song’ which is a little ditty all about repetition. It mentions the German town of Baden-Baden and for a while in my ignorance I wondered why they had plucked out a town which rhymed with Pardon. I find it quite amusing because in the Arabic language there is no ‘p’ sound so words/letters in English can often me a little tricky for my husband. Baden and Pardon could almost be interchangeable. So when the offer of exhibiting in the German town of Baden-Baden came we had a rather interesting conversation as to whether it was one Baden or two. Needless to say there were numerous Baden’s and Pardon’s.
The connection with Baden-Baden was a racing event and the possibility of exhibiting ‘Troy’. The whole idea snowballed into my husband creating a body of work for a solo exhibition for Baden races. He painted prolifically in our house which was a real pleasure to participate in and be able to watch the process. He built on work we have had for several years. Layering ideas and colours, resulting in paintings like stories. I wish I had recorded the whole process really in todays digital age as it is an art in itself watching him create.
The sculptures, sleek and elegant are more like statements. He created new pieces specifically for the event adding to the already existing smaller horses head-piece ‘Mane’. So the summer was overtaken by preparing for Germany. With nerves, apprehension and excitement he flew to Frankfurt yesterday and onto Baden-Baden. Early this morning the work was arriving by van and I am sincerely praying they arrived safely, in one piece and the installation can begin. (text received all going well)
Here is a glimpse at the absolutely stunning work:
His statement:
“I will be showing this collection at my exhibition at Baden Racing event in Germany from 28th of August to 6th of September. In this exhibition I am showing for the first time in my career paintings, which I have created involving horses to compliment my sculptural work. Being at the Baden racing event is a great opportunity and the perfect place to showcase this theme of work.Growing up in the countryside of Egypt I was surrounded by all kinds of animals in particular horses has influenced me. Not only as a creature but mainly the form and shape fascinated me. How it moves, the muscles and the harmony of the body whilst at speed and stationary. Riding horses in my culture is a natural thing there is no training for it. I believe being an Egyptian that I am a natural rider. The experience of riding has made me feel the body movement of the horse and the communication between the horse’s body and mine.At the faculty of Fine Art in Cairo I chose to be a sculptor, I never used horses as a subject as most of the practice was in the classical realism of human figures. However, when I look back at my sketchbook, every book has one or two drawings of horses. I wouldn’t describe myself as a painter; the prominence of my practice is in sculpting. Although, when I choose to paint the only thing, which comes to mind, are horses. I feel like my hand wills the brush beyond my control to paint them.
My usual sculptural practice is using steel and stainless steel using folding and welding techniques to create minimalistic sculptures to create my concepts. In 2013 I created an unusual piece, slightly different from my usual line of work. I had some material and saw a horse within so I tried to carve it out. I had no real purpose for creating it. The materials and space limited the size I could go to but my intention wasn’t for a full size horse. After several months of carving I realized I was creating my own version of a horse. This prompted the start of a collection and I am exhibiting them all together for the first time. My work reflects experience and memories that most of us share. Using the horse as a subject is a tool to highlight the universal concept to point out the strength within us, the harmony of creation of our body and the beauty within.”
Sculpture on Site (4) Newby Hall
Take time to reflect, to remember, to realise our place in this world. Magical days.
Sculpture on site (3) The Henley Festival
After installing ‘The Bench’ in London which was no easy feat, negotiating doorways, pathways and gravel paths it wasn’t without a bump or two. A small collection of work also had to be unwrapped, polished and placed inside the hotel which took a little longer than expected. So at 4.30 they quickly had to leave as they were due to be further along the river. Phoning to apologies for the delay they thought their next destination was only 1 hour away but that doesn’t factor in rush hour, London traffic and a small narrow bridge to get to Henley.
It was now 7pm and having only eaten a croissant in the morning, 5 hours sleep, travelling, lifting, polishing and positioning exhaustion was beginning to set in. Wrist band and security checks and HGV wagon to park they could then finally start placing work.
For me Henley is rowing, I raced there is 2001,spent a training camp so again the sculptures are following places of my past. My husband hadn’t realised how close to the river the pieces would be. So a good realisation that he had installed 4 pieces along the river Thames in one day. Also a couple of his sculptures are being exhibited with Hay Hill Gallery within the grounds.
The journey didn’t end there though. After finishing and packing up they left Henley at around 9pm. Still not having eaten and rather famished but with large van in tow it was difficult to park up and eat. Deciding to travel back up the M6 they would stop at a service station -why they didn’t just stop and eat I can’t really fathom, something to do with fighting the fast food principles so it ended up being 11pm when they finally ate a not partially pleasant sandwich. Then in an unfortunate turn of events the M6 had several diversions and a stop for a short nap to keep them going meant the sculptor finally got back to the house at 5.45am the following day. HUGE thanks to Anthony Hartley. So the night of no sleep was the day after, after all. Is that what all sculptors do? my husband is wondering. When do you get to a point where you have a team of people that take the work for you instead of being on the road yourself.
The Henley Festival : this weekend 8-13th July
THE SCULPTOR'S WIFE 