via: nikmaram
Notes:
Sam Nikmaram’s artistic process is grounded in experimentation across sculpture, drawing, painting, photography, and design. His early study of graphic design gave him a strong understanding of composition, while photography became a method for sharpening his observation of images and the physical world. This interdisciplinary foundation allows Nikmaram to approach sculpture as more than the construction of an object; it becomes a meeting place for visual storytelling, material investigation, and spatial design. His experience with theater sets, puppetry, public sculpture, and furniture further contributes to the theatrical and character-driven presence of his work. SARAI Gallery
A particularly compelling aspect of Nikmaram’s process is his use of papier-mâché and discarded materials. These humble substances carry visible traces of their previous lives, giving his sculptures a sense of memory, vulnerability, and transformation. By converting disposable objects into imaginative forms, he challenges conventional ideas of permanence and artistic value while advancing an ecological approach to sculpture. The physical act of layering, molding, and reshaping papier-mâché also remains evident in the finished surfaces, allowing irregularities and imperfections to communicate the touch of the artist.
Nikmaram’s strongest works occupy an ambiguous territory between nature, mythology, and social commentary. Hybrid figures such as Flower Head Insect transform familiar organic forms into strange, psychologically charged beings. Rather than illustrating social concerns directly, Nikmaram filters them through imagination, enabling his sculptures to feel playful and unsettling at the same time. The openness of this approach invites interpretation, although a more deliberate development of scale, installation, and spatial relationships could intensify the dialogue between the individual object, its environment, and the ecological questions at the center of his practice.
- RJG//AI