Sawsan Al Bahar

Absent Fall

3D printed transparent PLA/resin, fish wire

Dimensions variable

This work is the latest of site-specific installations in which Sawsan Al Bahar (b. 1989, Damascus, Syria) plays with the visible and the invisible. The artist creates a sculptural spectacle with 100 transparent tree leaves.

Each leaf is uniquely made through image mapping, then 3D printed and moulded by hand. The suspended vertical fall of transparent leaves floating mid-air creates an evocative image of lost fall leaves. 

The delicate ghostly sculptures express fragility and temporality - foregrounding the intangible forces of time, gravity, and air.Viewers experience form as both absent and present. Seen from different viewpoints, the leaves oscillate between being appearing and disappearing momentarily, suspended in a state of both movement and rest.

The purposeful use of materials that are artificial highlights and challenges our relationship with the natural world. We experience machine-made, handmade and natural simultaneously. The transparency is a reminder of the ephemeral nature of the artwork but also of nature and life itself.

Maraya Art Centre 

Maraya Art Centre is a non-profit creative initiative under Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), and is located in Al Qasba, Sharjah.

Maraya Art Centre offers innovative programmes through its multifaceted initiatives,

and public outreach activities, including workshops, lectures, talks and other art-related events. Maraya Art Centre strives to comprehensively support artists by providing opportunities for continual growth through research, exhibitions,and project development.