Egyptian born, British Sculptor, Sam Shendi, creates joyfully coloured abstractions of the human figure, which, with the subtlest of indicators, hints at the complexity of human interactions. He graduated in 1997 with a first class BA degree with honors from Helwen University of Fine Arts in Cairo.
Shendi’s works reference the work of “minimalism”, the style of paring-down design elements and focusing on the mediums of steel, aluminum and paint. Some of his works are deceptively simple in form but include the qualities of metaphorical associations, symbolism and suggestions of spiritual transcendence, which is what the artist of the 60s & 70s were trying to avoid.
His works whittle down the human figure to its simplest form enabling the exploration of the idea of the human form as a vessel. So by reducing the human body to a container or minimal shape, his creations become centred on an emotion or an expression.
The simplicity is no longer the end result and devoid of meaning, but a revelation of a hidden truth and intellectual expression. Shendi’s work, therefore, takes a fine line between representation and abstraction. Whilst he appreciates the abstract form, his interest is in the human and psychological dimensions to his sculptures, stripping human nature down to its essence, and then expressing it in a sculptural language.