Habeeb Mohammed Abu-Futtaim
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Accidental Sculptures and Their Variations (2024-ongoing)
PlasterInk on paper
This body of work emerges from an ongoing inquiry into the fragmentation and deconstruction of national symbols—abstract emblems designed to consolidate imagined identities. By reimagining these flat, reductive forms as tangible, three-dimensional entities, I sought to expose the latent complexity embedded within them. In essence, I am abstracting the abstractions, through the very process with which they were formed, allowing them to evolve beyond their prescribed symbolism to reflect the fluid, hybrid nature of identity as I experience it.
Rejecting the notion of a fixed mold, I created dynamic frames from a single foam mold, incised and creased to resist a singular shape. These structures remained in flux until the casting process, at which point they would surrender to a form—an “accidental sculpture” born from the tension between control and contingency. The potential for infinite variations intrigued me, prompting a parallel process: dipping the constantly moving molds in ink to capture transient imprints of forms that might have been.
Through this process, I confront the illusion of singularity in identity. Each sculpture, each fleeting mark, becomes a testament to the multiplicity within us—a refusal to be confined to static definitions, embracing instead the perpetual becoming inherent to existence.