UAE | General
'I like to play with letters'
His paintings depict vivid sunsets, cascading waterfalls, undulating sand dunes and swirling sea waves; they speak about human emotions, our dreams and fears and the beauty of the human spirit.
- By Jyoti Kalsi, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 January 28, 2004
 "I see letters as a means to express nature and my feelings," says Khaled Al Saai at Dubai's Green Art Gallery. ©Gulf News |
Khaled Al Saai is a calligrapher, whose work transcends the barrier of language, making it easy even for those who do not know Arabic to understand and appreciate his art. In fact he deliberately mixes letters, writes backwards and creates new words, compelling even those familiar with the Arabic script to look beyond the words.
"I try to destroy the formal relationship between letters and find new relationships between words and their meanings and between letters, shapes and colours because I do not want my art to be restricted by the meaning of words," says the US-based Syrian artist. "I want to go beyond language and religion to use calligraphy as a universal medium of expression. I want to get out of the prison of language and want my work to be appreciated as art."
Khaled is holding his first exhibition in Dubai at the Green Art Gallery. Among the 45 works on display are Holy Quranic verses in classical Diwani Jali style, painting-like depictions of poems by well-known Arabic, French, Mexican and other poets in Thulouth and Taaliq styles and several innovative works where the letters have been transformed into pictorial compositions done in water colours, natural ink, tempera and gouache. The exhibition, titled Arabic Calligraphy. It will continue till January 29.
His ideas may sound radical and his mixed media paintings are certainly very different from traditional calligraphic works; but Khaled's techniques are grounded in pure, classical calligraphy. Khaled grew up in a household steeped in art and music and had his earliest training in the art of Arabic calligraphy from his elder brother. He went on to obtain a master's degree in Fine Art from the University of Damascus and has since held exhibitions all over the world and won many international competitions.
He teaches Arabic calligraphy at the University of Michigan and has conducted workshops and given talks on the history, spirituality and Sufi aspects of Arabic calligraphy in many countries.
"My inspiration comes from autumn in the US, the sand dunes and ancient buildings in Syria, the beautiful Moorish architecture of Spain and from the poems of great poets. I see letters as a means to express nature and my feelings. I began by copying traditional calligraphic works and continually practise the classical calligraphic styles to keep my hand strong. But I like to play with the letters and have tried to develop my own unique identity as an artist," says Khaled. "My goal is to be appreciated both as a calligrapher and as an artist."
Khaled makes his own inks and paints from natural materials such as tea, tobacco and walnut shells, giving his works an earthy look. His mastery over several media can be seen in the artistic watercolour washes layered over the letters, the play of colours and the beautiful light and shade effects created by the use of mixed media and innovative techniques.
Over the years Khaled has done several interesting experiments with calligraphy. He was invited by a French institute to translate the works of famous French poets into calligraphic works. "I love poetry. I spent several months studying the work of French poets and held an exhibition of artworks based on French and Arabic poetry. It was very satisfying to see that French art lovers were immediately able to identify the paintings based on French poems, despite the letters being in Arabic," he says.
He has also worked with poems by Dylan Thomas and Octavio Paz and plans to do a series on Edgar Allan Poe's Raven soon. Khaled also loves music and has done a series of calligraphic works that attempt to translate musical rhythms into visual rhythms. A painting based on Vivaldi's Four Seasons is part of the current exhibition.
Teaching calligraphy to non-Arabic speaking students has given Khaled a new perspective on his art. "There is a lot of interest among Europeans and Americans. I teach them to use individual letters and simple words to create their own artistic interpretations. It has been rewarding, particularly because some of my European students have won international calligraphy competitions," he says.
The artist also painted a camel as part of the Camel Caravan project. "This is a great way to bring art to the common people, to involve the local community in artistic as well as charitable causes," he says.
Exhibition
• Title :Arabic Calligraphy
• Artist: Khaled Al Saai
• Venue: Green Art Gallery, Jumeirah.
• Last Day: Tomorrow
• Prices: Between Dh3,500 and Dh9,000.
• Gallery Timings: 9.30am to 1.30pm and 4.30pm to 8.30pm.
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