The Engulfing Flame Sculpture

(Compiled by my son) I was born in 1964 in a small town in Mount Lebanon called Aramoun. I started school and was able to reach up to fifth grade before the civil war broke in 1975. By that time, I had already started to dabble in art as a hobby. I had to drop out of school, along with my siblings to provide a living for ourselves and our disabled father, as our mother has already passed away. As I continued to teach myself how to read and write, I also taught myself how to express myself using art. Art, in all its expressed forms, was my only way to connect back to the cultural side of the world the war was taking away from me. I painted with oil colors and made wooden sculptures in my early career. At later stages, having been influenced by some talented Lebanese artists like Aref Al Rayyes, and after working for 3 years in his Atelier, I found myself working on several types of stone from granite to carrara to any other type of stone I could find. I drew upon my experiences in life and my aspiration to a better humanity to create my works. I have taken part in many exhibitions, both private and group ones, and participated in several sculpture and painting symposiums (listed below). I currently live with my family in my hometown, Aramoun. Several of my sculptures stand in avenues across Lebanon (Aley, Abey, Ain Zhalta, Jonieh, Bmekeen, Kobbay’a, Al Jisr, Zar’oun, Kahlounieh)