Embodiment: Zaid Shawwa

”Embodiment”

This group of works seek to capture the relationship between us and the chair ... A relationship that I have always been intrigued by. In my imagination, I have always created stories and narrations about this relationship that take place in a fantasy world, where I re-arrange the elements of reality on what resembles a stage, or a studio, in a metaphoric world that is made of objects from life, that come together to serve a purpose in the overall act.
In our real life, we cling to our chairs, they become our property, we stick to them and they stick to us, until we become one, and we start feeling incomplete without them. Their presence provides us with strength and satisfaction, they make us warm, safe and stable, and yet, and as much as we enjoy having them, we fear their loss, so we keep on chasing them anxiously, until we get taken in our pursuit from our own life. 
Our chairs start to represent what we stand for, our opinions and views ... They live with us our days and know our stories, and carry memories of our past. 
The interesting thing about chairs is that they witness very special moments in our lives, those that we think we only spend with ourselves, they listen to our thoughts, our concerns, our fears and our fantasies. Sometimes I wonder if chairs have memories, and whether they know their owners? Do they sympathize with them, do they share their concerns, and does losing their owners sadden them, or is this a one sided relationship?
These configurations mix reality with imagination in an attempt to represent this relationship and reveal its reality, in some of the works, the chair represents memories and dreams, in others it may represent our limitations and fears. It is an expression of the reality of our modern life, where matter has become the master, and man has become the tool.