The appeal of Egyptian artist Wael A. Sabour’s multi-media
prints are quite mesmerizing. His densely-layered colors, and his repeated organic
forms grab our attention for their pleasing color palette, but it is also the combination
of his criss-crossing of forms that has me feeling like I am in the middle of a
Star Trek 3D chess game with Mr. Spock. He layers the
forms, showing us some ‘other place’, where multi- levels of travel occur, like
some space-age time where water travel is but one available choice.
Some of his forms are rowboats or vessels, and some look
like amoebas floating in translucent layers of fluid. The rowboats appear to
float in the air and pass above, below and beside us. Sabour would seem to be sending
out a message about transitions, travel and going places, but the curious thing
is his boats are empty. They are ready for us to step into them, but like one would
find in a carnival gondola ride, they aren’t able to be maneuvered, and they appear
to run along pre-programmed courses. So the question is… do we jump in and see
where the boat takes us, or do we wait for the next one and hope it’s going in the
direction we’d prefer?
Sabour’s rowboats are taken from actual reference looking at
small fishing boats sitting in the harbor at Alexandria. They are often
brightly painted and seem pleasant objects in which to take a trip. Alexandria
is a city in the northern part of Egypt, historically known as one of the most traversed
in the world. Its heritage has always been one of major trafficking of goods
and people crossing the Mediterranean to all destinations. Wael says of the city:
“Alexandria is a multinational city where Greek, Italians, French
and Egyptians have lived together in a perfect harmony with each other and with
their city for several decades.”
Alexandria’s legacy as an intellectual
and culturally diverse city feeds metaphorically into Sabour’s work. The vessels
are available to be filled with people, goods, intellect or experiences. They cross
the water in all directions seeking a final resting spot, but something in
Sabour’s imagery also sends the message that there is no final destination for any
of these carriers. They will be continually in motion, because the environment
and human migration is ever-evolving. One can take comfort in that the boats
seem to glide seamlessly over the water or in the air, and they do not appear
to be in jeopardy of being capsized or flowing into dangerous waters. It’s as if
Sabour’s depictions of them are more about personal memories than actual
journeys.
Another subject for discussion about Sabour’s images is that we do not know who’s actually supposed
to be travelling in these vessels. Are they available for everyone? Are they
stopping for us to jump in, or are they really ghosts from journeys past? Is
that why the boats are empty? Otherwise we should find at least one person in
them to help guide us on our own trip. The manner in which he sets up his
compositions suggests that these are boats on pre-determined courses, and
unless we just jump in, we’ll never go anywhere ourselves. Of one thing we can
be sure, we will never see a destination sign or hear a ship’s captain make a
last boarding call. So then the boats’ journeys are more mysterious. Are they
about the present, past or some other place in the future? We may never know,
but I do think what we would potentially discover on the journey would be worthwhile…..
Sabour’s work has been shown extensively internationally.
Much like his rowboats going in all directions, his work is found in several
museums, including Egypt, Japan, Taiwan and the United States. He is also a Fulbright grant recipient, and he teaches Graphic Design at
El Minia University in Egypt. To see more of his work go to wael@wael-sabour.net
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