Samy Snoussi (Instagram), a prolific painter and sculptor from Morocco, explores identity and the weaving of invisible threads that connect us all. Employing diverse mediums such as acrylics, charcoal, pastels, resin, and plaster on canvas, Snoussi crafts pieces that defy conventional boundaries, transcending artistic norms. In his abstract expressions, Snoussi communicates a nuanced perspective on human expression, suggesting that while disconnected from the world, man can find a voice through the innocent gaze of a child. This unique approach captures the essence of existence in Snoussi’s compelling compositions, providing a distinctive portrayal of the interconnectedness that defines our humanity.
Were you drawn to art from a young age, and what led to your decision to pursue it as a career?
From a young age, I have always used creativity as a means of escape. From building cabanas in my garden, to creating dresses for my little sister with used curtains or through photography, film and painting. I always managed to have my creative moments, without really knowing the purpose of my creations.
I also believe that it is one of the most reductive things to tell a child is that being creative will do you no good. As if one day we stopped growing. As if money was an end in itself, the one and only goal.
Although I dreamed about the artist’s life, we say, “You don’t choose the artist’s life, the artist’s life chooses you.”
The innocent gaze of a child plays a role in your abstract compositions. How did this concept come about, and what significance does it hold for you?
I was having trouble in school, especially with writing. I naturally started drawing symbols and random lines on my notebooks. I later realized I had severe dyslexia. Today I understand that my hand created a language.
The creative adult is the child who survived after the world tried killing them, making them “grown up.” The creative adult is the child who survived the blandness of schooling, the unhelpful words of bad teachers, and the nay-saying ways of the world. The creative adult is in essence simply that, a child.
Your work is known for incorporating “secret language symbols.” Could you shed light on the inspiration behind these symbols and the significance they hold?
To align means, etymologically, “to get in line”. In this case – that is, in the life of a system of graphic symbols – it means moving almost inexorably towards the line. We started from the lines and we come back to the lines. The 41 symbols that compose my UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, really pushed me and my creativity in terms of inventing new pieces to make a whole.
I dived into to the concept of Semasiography (from Greek: σημασία (semasia) “signification, meaning”), “writing with signs“, a non-phonetic based technique to “communicate information without the necessary intercession of forms of speech.” It means written symbols and languages that are not based on spoken language.
Your symbols adorn different mediums, from books to humans, architecture, and jewelry. How do you ensure a consistent artistic style across these varied fields?
By using my symbols as a unifying common link in my works, I can adorn different mediums. I always need a new medium to extend the possibilities of my art. For example I carved my symbols into stones like they used to do in the past, in the old city of Ur, to communicate or calculate or like the hieroglyphs in Egypt.
Your work possesses a beautiful, spontaneous element. How do you approach a concept or brief, considering the spontaneity inherent in your artistic process?
My work begins with mental sketches or images that outline a direction without having a clear idea of what the final result will be. I let my LANGUAGE develop intuitively, until the composition is harmonious. My hand decides what direction to take. This spontaneity is generally sprouted from my unconscious and inspiration, and also from the unexpected factors in my creation.
As a severe dyslexic, I think I’ve developed an emotional relationship with my own body. I float in a trance-like state, my hand unconsciously tracing lines. In a kind of energetic exorcism of my hand, which seeks to express itself outside my Consciousness.
What unique or unexpected location would you like to create art on or in?
As a graduate urban designer, I’d love to participate in a major urban scale project! I’d love to paint my symbols on the ground and be able to film it from a bird’s point of view, from high above. Or even paint an entire facade of a building.
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