ANN/THE STAR – Contemporary artist Daud Rahim’s boundless creativity shines through as his imagination takes centre stage at the House of Matahati (HOM) Art Trans gallery in Kuala Lumpur. Single-handedly, he has turned it into a haven of oversized pencil sculptures.
His latest solo exhibition Sharpening The Imagination showcases 26 uniquely crafted wooden sculptures, as the artist-lecturer directs his attention solely towards sculpting, reserving his drawings and painting for another occasion.
“Usually, I would exhibit drawings and sculptures together but this time I spent eight months making these sculptures. I spend, at least, over a year making drawings and sculptures but there wasn’t enough time for the drawings this time,” said Daud in an interview at the gallery.
There is, however, nothing amiss with Sharpening The Imagination. In fact, the “larger-than-life” wooden pencil sculptures which vary in height, width, colour and shape have a sense of unity and harmony about them.
There is a feeling of wonder, nostalgia and appreciation of craftmanship when one walks around the HOM Art Trans gallery, where these works were exhibited until March 10.
It is easy to feel a connection with Daud’s pencil sculptures. “The pencil is of course, synonymous with childhood,” he said with a broad smile.
To him, the pencil is one of the first, if not the first, instrument we use at a young age when we start to learn, be it writing, drawing and arithmetic. It transports one back to our early days of school. Daud reached back to his own memories of his youth growing up in Lenggong, Perak for inspiration, but this new series is not only about a sense of nostalgia.
While there is an appreciation of the object which brought joy to the young artist, that young man has now reached his early 50s, with nearly 30 years of experience in the local art scene.
In 1996, he graduated with a Fine Art degree from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, majoring in sculpture and obtained a Master’s Degree in Drawing from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) in 2002. He began teaching Fine Art at UiTM Seri Iskandar, Perak a year after he earned his degree in 1997 and he still teaches and lives in Seri Iskandar to this day.
The daily academic routine teaching drawing and sculpture has hardly slowed down his creative ambitions, with solo shows, four to date, and group show participation still an exciting prospect for the zestful artist.
Pencils are just like people. In Sharpening The Imagination, Daud explains the importance of how one should develop the mind.
In his home studio in Perak, Daud, using tools such as a chainsaw, a small axe and a chisel, created his sculptures mainly from discarded mahogany trees, which he recovered after they were cut-down in the Seri Iskandar area. “As raw material, the (mahogany) wood has form and substance,” he said.
As a poignant reflection, a pencil can age and turn into an old man like Daud’s piece Atok, Makin Tua Makin Banyak Cerita (Granddad, the older he gets the more stories he tells) which is just a short stub, having been sharpened over and over again. It now has a blunt lead tip. Slow life, slow art. Some of Daud’s sculptures also feature organic shapes that grow out of them. There are sculptures where the lead curls organically like spirals, such as Biomorphic Pencil and Girl’s Pencil, which cannot be achieved with a real pencil.
On the gallery wall, there is a “banana” that seamlessly morphs into a 2B yellow and black octagonal pencil titled Belajar Jadi Orang (Learn To Be Human).
“Some people fail to see the value of sitting under a tree and watching the waves gently crashing on the beach or spending time with their children or loved ones. Some of them think like, ‘What do I get spending time with my family at the beach?’,” said Daud.
“If society starts thinking more and more like this, then there is a danger of us ultimately losing our humanity,” said Daud. In Melukis Sampai Pagi (Drawing Until Dawn), another sculpture with both ends sharpened and the middle taking a slight spiral curve, you will find the artist reflecting on the passage of time. This is basically Daud in a nutshell, always working. – Rizal Johan
