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Best Sculpture - 2022
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Ghassan Zard
Ghassan Zard
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Untitled from the series On A Shore. Bronze, 98x45x50 |
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Ghassan Zard’s sculpture is purely abstract, born of a wandering mind and transported into the physical realm. “As a child your head is in the clouds, and I still carry that with me. In my work, I try to transcend daily life, to let the day by day be just as beautiful as what is in the mind,” he says. The sculpture stands at nearly one meter in faded gold, with a vertical core and paper-thin filaments erupting horizontally at different intervals.
Imagined Treasures
The textures hint at different elements and blur the lines between fire, earth, wind and air. The artwork, part of the series ‘On a Shore’, hints at the artist’s beginnings and how, as a child, he would daydream about treasures buried deep in the sea. The stories that gripped him, are those of Hergé (Tintin), Homer, Vernes, Melville and Hemingway. They continue to fuel his imagination. These literary works, full of maritime and aquatic themes, and tackling the vast realm of the subconscious mind, circle back and reemerge in his works. The sculpture is made to look like a treasure from the sea, weathered by the crashing waves, sculpted by the sand and bleached by the sun.
Dream a Little Dream
The artist’s course of action is simply to let people dream actively. There are multiple perspectives presented, and combined with the rich textures. The topographical variations lead the eye in a navigational dance that immerses one into untapped sentiments and visuals. Dreams are also part of the process: he keeps a pen and notepad next to his bed to scribble ideas that emerge in the dead of night. But whether influenced by his dreams or the books he has devoured, he allows for the collective subconscious to emerge, quietly, at its own pace.
Strengthened Fragility
The sculpture’s tactile nature is integral and holds more significance than its visual value. “It makes you want to touch it,” laughs Zard. “It looks delicate, but it’s not. It plays on weight and lightness,” he explains. The structure is made of copper and contains fillers for strengthening. The vertical base is first built as a foundation, and then the filaments are added. “Even though it’s small, it’s the relationship with space that matters. It’s balanced: it takes up space without being heavy. It’s both fragile and strong. This is the dichotomy between the well-structured and unstructured,” he explains. His method is also spontaneous and there are no prior sketches before the sculpting process. He allows the artwork to guide him and take shape as he works. He describes the experience as a “burst.” To him, it’s an explosion directly from the mind.
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