| Steps in the Desert
the philosophy of Iraki ceramist Waleed
R. Qaisi
 I
SEE CERAMIC ART as a self-independent art, having its own forms,
colors and structures. However, I declare my objection and disobedience
to the old concepts, or the stereotypes of ceramics that are intended
to be a utilitarian or applied art. Generally, there are two confusing
aspects of ceramic: first, between the desire for expression and
expression itself and the material for expression and, second, between
construction and the material of construction. Therefore, I see
ceramic art as not mental stimulation but, by composing abstracted
ideas or idealistic shapes, it will continue as a marker for humanistic
and spiritual values.
A shape is a language, its words are written on the surface and
color that must be poured in a new modern cast to help me understand
all the things that 1 have formed and transformed, that is, to explain
why I have allowed a dominating form to exist iII the artwork under
a mask that seems characterless. It is normal that all shapes are
made through the feeling of its inside volume; the work must have
harmony and react with its dimensions and mass because its correlation
will not be according to the subject itself nor to the involving
emotions, but to the direct senses.
 That
is why all my shapes are spontaneous and simple. When I start to
create work, my hands work spontaneously and my eyes search in it,
because clay as a substance has no meaning iI1 itself yet has a
tremendous influence on me as a ceramic artist. I sense the originality
of the artwork from inside - the shape and non-shape; and in order
to stabilize the world by means of time and place, I try, in this
sense, to abstract the beautifulness of touch in color, shape and
non-shape before reducing it towards a visible world.
click to enlarge
I have a strong desire to distort the shapes I make because I
find an extra freedom which pushes me towards art creation rather
than towards abilities of the mind, although I wish to discover
those abilities too; and so much of my work ends as disfigured structures.
Because of the full awareness of the ceramist for his materials,
the world and shapes around him, he is led to discover new shapes
and structures rich in beauty. However, I always try to put my shapes
and structures in a modern cast and I decorate the forms in relation
to the modern humanitarian civilized world. My work can be categorized
as decorated shapes, colored dances, free lines, renewed volumes,
music and running away from oneself into a scattered self in disorder.
I have reached this level of knowledge through my readings in ceramic
art and art in general, and through various and endless experiments
and, finally, my desire to destroy my shapes and then reshape them.
Waleed R.Qaisi is an Iraki artist
living in Qater. Images & text courtesy of Waleed Qaisi.©
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