Tarek Montasser
There is clairvoyance in painting. “Clairvoyance” translated literally from French means “clarity of seeing.” I paint to see clearly. See what clearly? The visible is self-evident, but beyond it there is the invisible.
“Clairvoyance” has archaic occult connotations. Painting is an ancient tradition preceding language and reason. It still is part of that way of perceiving the cosmos through myth and magic. There is alchemy in painting; transforming dead matter into light and meaning.
I am a light seeker. Not the absolute blinding light of the victorious sun at noon, eradicating darkness and denying shade and shadow. Someday, who knows, I might be able to look straight at the sun in all her glory, I am Egyptian after all, but not yet.
It might be said that I am as much about shadows. We live in a world of shadows and silhouettes, and in painting we can only bring light to our blindingly white starting point by adding darkness. I am fascinated by the relationship between man and his objects as manifestations of his self and extensions of his being. Even more so I am intrigued by man as a subject and as an object, that fascinating space between the figure and the figurine. The human phenomenon as a source of light, a reflection and first and foremost an opacity that casts a shadow.