Ascending Egyptian Turtle
ARTIST: Hassan Kamel
HOME: Egypt
LOCATION: near Nashua Public Library
ARTIST STATEMENT:
The turtle in ancient Egyptian philosophy represents darkness in the world. It relates to the world underneath so it is earthly. In the process of architectural development, the rough stone mass represents the earth. The turtle, coming through in vertical pose and ascending its way to the sky, is the opposite of reality. The flat treatment of the turtle helps to emphasize the thrust upwards, especially when it follows the natural mass of stone with its geometric architecture, causing deep shadows. The downward diagonal angle of the turtle’s limbs further emphasizes the upward movement.
Hassan Kamel was born in 1967 in Cairo the capital city of Egypt and studied at the University of Art Education. He likes working with natural materials such as stone, bronze, wood and clay composite.
His first inspiration was Ancient Egyptian Sculpture, for their compositions, artistic ideas and elements treatment, and for the relationship among the materials with a different characters. Teaching is one of his ways to discover talented students and an important aspect in his art life.
