Student art exhibit: Voices from Refugee Camps

Northeastern senior Hamza J. Salim's body of artwork, Voices from Refugee Camps, is currently on display in the second floor hallway of the Fine Arts building. Hamza's sculptural and ink pieces are sprinkled along the walls and floor. The theme for this body of work stems from the artist's personal connection to the struggles, and resultant humanity experienced by human beings worldwide. Hamza draws inspiration from his personal experiences by observing "social division, discrimination, and U.S. propaganda post Sept. 11".

Born in Saudi Arabia to parents of mixed heritage, Hamza is also quick to point to his family and cultural background/heritage as further inspiration for his works. His father was from Jordan, and his mother came from the Philippines, making for an interesting upbringing in the Salim household.

Voices from Refugee Camps is Hamza's first one man show, and in that vein the artist selected both ink drawings and sculptural forms for good reason. According to Hamza, "the sculptures are an embodiment of people's struggles defined by the human condition and the drawings are to document the current conditions of people affected by wars." The artist also states (in relation to the initial design inspiration stemming from his personal connection to what he observes), "[the artwork] then migrates to address the universal themes of power, sexual development, subdued anger and violence, and feelings of failure and mortality."

Hamza's sculptural pieces are constructed from various materials such as metal, concrete, and wood and many display a war theme with objects such as grenades and bullets representing leaves dangling from sculpted metal tree branches. One sculpture that stood out was hung on the wall-a large carved wooden piece titled Portrait of Africa. Many masked African faces look out at the viewer from their overlapping positions that comprise the shape of Africa's continent.

Though it is safe to say that Hamza's sculptures succeed in capturing the essence of human struggle, it is his large ink drawings that really shine in this body of work. Here, the focus is on capturing snapshots in varying shades of ink in order to provide a type of documentation of people negatively impacted by war. The piece Nakba1948 is a moving portrait of an older gentleman cradling a mortally wounded child in his arms. With the solitary tool of black ink, and the delicate shading done by brushes, an intimate snapshot of a wartime moment of grief is achieved. At the same time that the portrait is intimate and seemingly fragile, it contains elements of drama as well. Sharply outlining the softer tones which comprise the figure's silhouette are the stark black outlines which separate the forms. Delicate light plays off the figure's hands and faces, highlighting human expression.

Other ink drawings were equally strong in their intimate depictions of the human condition. One such piece is Incarcerated Within. A shrouded elderly woman stands boldly facing the viewer, as bars, barbed wire, razor wire, and brick walls serve as her oppressive backdrop. The woman holds both hands over her mouth, leading the viewer to guess at her being a symbol of oppression or grief or both.

Anyone interested in viewing artwork that will make one ponder the modern global human condition should stop by the second floor of the Fine Arts building. Voices from Refugee Camps will be on display through Nov. 26, 2008. Hamza's Web site includes his artist statement along with pictures of his sculptures, drawings and photography. His Web site is hamzasalim.com