Page 150 - Ahmed- Nawar
P. 150
ist draws the building as if he saw it from above, while the rest of the picture is at the level of
sight or from two different angles at the same time, combining the two pictures to achieve his
spiritual and emotional purposes.
Other scenes depend on the single main form structure around which the other elements are or-
ganized as the scene of the traditional sea ship in Hijaz drawings; the artist raised it over a special
hill to give it this utmost importance. Nawar’s execution skills are revealed in his translation of
the vocabulary of the artwork through multi-tonal shadow networks and the graduation of these
shadows over the ship’s body as a sculptural form. The eye then connects the linear structures in
the ship’s bases and those of the ship’s body. Nawar stresses its utmost important presence when
drawing explicit spaces of light and shadow heading to it. Even when dealing with the scenes
based on only depicting the traditional buildings in Jeddah, the artist chooses one of them to be
the main focus of the scene, then begins to calm the atmosphere around it. He does not want us
to see all things at the same time and with the same power, so our vision of work is not determined
by one scale. Otherwise, we will lose our sense of depth, extension, and dimensions of space and
time as well, although he was always keen on their presence together at the same time.
In another scene that reminds us of the pilgrims standing on Mount Arafat, the eye moves from
the dark mountain in the upper left to the huge group of pilgrims, who are heavily scattered above
it, and then to an arc that attracts us to the heavens in alignment between the symbol and the form
as if it was eloquently referring to the inevitable return to the heavens.
A predominant phenomenon in Nawar’s landscapes is the presence of layers of the scene in the
background. These layers flit between realization and existence, between vanishing and melting,
until their existence dissolves into a group of fine, delicate lines that turn into visual fantasies ap-
pearing in the distant memory. Thus, we move from the established structure at the forefront of
the artwork to the blurry, ethereal structure in its background back and forth. So, the work of art
can present a visual portrayal for the sense of the place without spoiling the scene with a conical
perspective penetrating the depth of the picture and interrupting the extending horizontal range
of the scene.
In his other artworks in this experience, Nawar uses the method of transverse rivers or records
as used by the ancient Egyptian artist. For instance, in the scene of the pilgrims’ tents, he depicts
the scene from a high angle and divides it into a group of indirect transverse rivers embracing the
pyramid shape of both the tent and the mountain, allowing the eye to move smoothly through the
scene, especially with the presence of some diagonal lines and shapes that make us indirectly
dive into the depth of the artwork.
In Nawar’s collection "Drawings of China", we remember the oriental vision of nature that devel-
oped through the spiritual concepts put forward by Taoism and Buddhism. They always sought
to link the elements and details of nature with their significance of the meaning of life and the
universal cosmic harmony connecting man and the whole universe in a dialectical relationship.
They emphasized the connections between humans and nature, without differentiation between
humans and nature or animals and inanimate objects, and saw that everything enjoys life, even
rocks, and stones. Those connections cannot be better expressed than in landscape, as long as
nature itself is a clear symbol of this universe.
This vision is clearer in his Chinese scenes portraying the ancient Chinese architecture in the
heart of the hills as sculptures connected with the elements of nature, forming one unit and inte-
grating through the black and white linear and shadow treatment. It is also evident in the old Chi-
nese houses drawn by the artist inside the mountains, building their stairs in valleys and mountain
paths, surrounded by lush trees and plants, receiving the bright sunlight and covered by the vast
148
sight or from two different angles at the same time, combining the two pictures to achieve his
spiritual and emotional purposes.
Other scenes depend on the single main form structure around which the other elements are or-
ganized as the scene of the traditional sea ship in Hijaz drawings; the artist raised it over a special
hill to give it this utmost importance. Nawar’s execution skills are revealed in his translation of
the vocabulary of the artwork through multi-tonal shadow networks and the graduation of these
shadows over the ship’s body as a sculptural form. The eye then connects the linear structures in
the ship’s bases and those of the ship’s body. Nawar stresses its utmost important presence when
drawing explicit spaces of light and shadow heading to it. Even when dealing with the scenes
based on only depicting the traditional buildings in Jeddah, the artist chooses one of them to be
the main focus of the scene, then begins to calm the atmosphere around it. He does not want us
to see all things at the same time and with the same power, so our vision of work is not determined
by one scale. Otherwise, we will lose our sense of depth, extension, and dimensions of space and
time as well, although he was always keen on their presence together at the same time.
In another scene that reminds us of the pilgrims standing on Mount Arafat, the eye moves from
the dark mountain in the upper left to the huge group of pilgrims, who are heavily scattered above
it, and then to an arc that attracts us to the heavens in alignment between the symbol and the form
as if it was eloquently referring to the inevitable return to the heavens.
A predominant phenomenon in Nawar’s landscapes is the presence of layers of the scene in the
background. These layers flit between realization and existence, between vanishing and melting,
until their existence dissolves into a group of fine, delicate lines that turn into visual fantasies ap-
pearing in the distant memory. Thus, we move from the established structure at the forefront of
the artwork to the blurry, ethereal structure in its background back and forth. So, the work of art
can present a visual portrayal for the sense of the place without spoiling the scene with a conical
perspective penetrating the depth of the picture and interrupting the extending horizontal range
of the scene.
In his other artworks in this experience, Nawar uses the method of transverse rivers or records
as used by the ancient Egyptian artist. For instance, in the scene of the pilgrims’ tents, he depicts
the scene from a high angle and divides it into a group of indirect transverse rivers embracing the
pyramid shape of both the tent and the mountain, allowing the eye to move smoothly through the
scene, especially with the presence of some diagonal lines and shapes that make us indirectly
dive into the depth of the artwork.
In Nawar’s collection "Drawings of China", we remember the oriental vision of nature that devel-
oped through the spiritual concepts put forward by Taoism and Buddhism. They always sought
to link the elements and details of nature with their significance of the meaning of life and the
universal cosmic harmony connecting man and the whole universe in a dialectical relationship.
They emphasized the connections between humans and nature, without differentiation between
humans and nature or animals and inanimate objects, and saw that everything enjoys life, even
rocks, and stones. Those connections cannot be better expressed than in landscape, as long as
nature itself is a clear symbol of this universe.
This vision is clearer in his Chinese scenes portraying the ancient Chinese architecture in the
heart of the hills as sculptures connected with the elements of nature, forming one unit and inte-
grating through the black and white linear and shadow treatment. It is also evident in the old Chi-
nese houses drawn by the artist inside the mountains, building their stairs in valleys and mountain
paths, surrounded by lush trees and plants, receiving the bright sunlight and covered by the vast
148
