Saba Besier

Recovery

38” x 60” x 22” Porcelain and quartz on wood base $7,000.

sculptural representation of ocean floor with bleached coral

Detrahamus

21 x 36 x 36” Porcelain, steel, brass, quartz, and crushed black glass on wood base,

$6,200.

black material encroaches on coral and other ocean floor life forms

Intrepid Growth

21” x 10” x 10” Porcelain, copper, gold and white gold

$2,800.

ocean life forms combine in a growing plant like sculpture

Dark Denial

19” x 21” Porcelain, crushed black glass and fine chain link in brass frames

$900.

twin black escutcheons with white human faces entwined with animal forms

Hindering Growth

36” x 15” x 3” Porcelain, copper, gold and white gold

$ 3,800.

hanging sculpture depicting oceanic life forms with embedded precious metals

Inversion

5” x 22” x 22” Porcelain

Sold

black and white tendrils and tentacles surround a horned head in a circular form

Journey

16” x 64” x 6” Porcelain and quartz on wood panel

$5,800.

bleached ocean floor life forms extend from left to right in a shallow wave form

Mise en scène

17” x 82” x 6” Porcelain, steel, copper, brass, glass in upcycled galvanized steel case

$3,800.

horizontal array of black rectangular compartments contain ocean floor life forms

Pan’s Peculiarity

18” x 17” x 17” Porcelain, copper, steel, brass, quartz and glass

$2,200.

imaginary life form covered with spikes, antler forms, metal dome shapes

Phoenix Rising

9” x 9” x 4” Porcelain, gold and white gold

$3,800

wearable sculpture with red, white, gold tendrils on black mannequin base

Undoing Myself

20” x 13” x 6” Porcelain and underglaze pencil illustration

$3,600.

oval pencil facial rendering with hanging white tendrils

Vertex

10” x 10” x 10” Porcelain on glass

Sold

glowing pod form studded with spike-like projections

Saba Besier - Statement & Bio:

My sculptural works are inspired by delightful freaks of nature, bringing awareness to their plight, but also celebrating the bizarre beauty of the many species we are losing. Due to ecological trauma, these imaginative floras are disappearing from underwater, disrupting ecosystems as they go. Because of climate change, the ocean as a system is at risk, struggling to keep pace with human caused conditions. The sculptural forms intermingle what could exist through caustic mutation or evolve on other planets, colonized if we deplete our own resources. These science fiction-like growths combine plant, mineral, metal and human representations depicting the existence of other-worldly creatures, beauty molting out of hardened places. In a way, this fantastical fluid transformation out of rigid materials symbolize my own story. I have found porcelain to be my primary medium due to its luminous characteristic, adding an element of hope to the despondency of my subject. I subscribe to the Bauhaus sensibility of combining intense relationship with the process of craft and Fine Art. Each work draws on a hard-earned expertise in the techniques of slab building, throwing, hand sculpting, metallurgy and alchemy. Mystical tension culminates from the unlikely organic mix of media combined with a nonconventional merging of artistries and a sense of movement constantly envisioned from years of professional video development. Methods used in other cultures and eras meld with the discipline of formal art training. All of which conspire to bring these aquatic sculptures to life. I have chosen to maintain the inherent ivory coloration of porcelain in the forms to echo the bleaching that is happening to many sea organisms, and at times accompanied by black to signify the disruption they face.

I have been an exhibiting artist for 24 years. My work has been exhibited in numerous venues both nationally and internationally. I earned an MFA with a concentration in Painting from Pratt Institute and currently reside in Dallas Texas.

Saba Besier - CV

EDUCATION

Pratt Institute, M.F.A., Painting, 1999 - Brooklyn, NY
University of North Texas, B.F.A.., Painting and Drawing, 1994 - Denton, TX
American Intercontinental University, A.D.F.D., Fashion Design, 1991 - London, UK

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2006 - Slate, “Saba Rasheed”, New York, NY
2005-2006 – “Saba Rasheed – Paintings” Mercedes Benz Manhattan Gallery, New York, NY
1999 - Steuben West Gallery, “Strata”, Brooklyn, NY
1996 - Hakan International, “Saba Rasheed”, Dallas, TX
1996 - Dallas Visual Arts Center, “Ingénue”, Dallas, TX

COLLABORATIVE AND JURIED EXHIBITIONS

2021 – Sabine Gallery – For Now…For Later – Houston, TX
2021 – Viridian Artists Gallery – Viridian's 31st International Juried Competition - New York, NY
2021 – ArtTerrain – Terain.org, Mutant Beauty I Aquatic sculptures, Online Exhibition
2021 – Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Black and White, Online Exhibition
2021 – Verum Ultimum Gallery, Liminal, Online Exhibition
2021 – Art Room Gallery, Textures and Patterns, Online Exhibition
2021 – Dodomu Gallery, Tactile Sublime, Online Exhibition
2021 – Art Fluent, Of the Earth, Online Exhibition
2021 – Circle Arts Foundation, “Featured Artists 2021”, Online Exhibition
2021 – Sebastopal Center for the Arts, “Ecstasy: Breathtaking Beauty of Nature“, Sebastopal, CA
2020 – 33RD Annual Materials Hard + Soft International Contemporary Craft Competition and Exhibition, Denton, TX
2020 – MAC, “On the Surface”, Dallas, TX
2019 – Fortezza da Basso “XII Florence International Biennale” Florence Italy
2019 – Light Space and Time “9th Annual Seascapes” International online exhibition
2019 – TAC, “Fall Impromptu Invitational”, Fort Worth, TX
2019 – MAC, “Assemblage”, Dallas, TX
2019 – Archway Gallery, “11TH Annual Juried Exhibition”, Houston, TX
2013 - LuminArté, “Represented Artists, New Works”, Dallas, TX
2013 - Eisemann Center Gallery, “IRAS - 2nd Annual Juried Exhibition”, Richardson, TX
2010 - The Nasher Store, “Fall Impressions”, Dallas, TX
2007 - Artizen Gallery, “2007 Group Exhibition”, Dallas, TX
2006 - American Federation of Arts, “Art for Life”, New York, NY

AWARDS AND HONORS

2021 – Merit Award for “Textures and Patterns Juried Exhibition by Art Room Gallery Online
2021 – Best of Show Award - “Ecstasy: Breathtaking Beauty of Nature“, Sebastopal Center for the Arts, Sebastopal, CA
2020 – Artist of the Future Award - Contemporary Art Curator Magazine
2020 – Panelist in conjunction to exhibition “On the Surface” - MAC Gallery - Dallas, TX
2019 – International Leonardo De Vinci Prize – The Universal Artist – Borghesi Palace, Florence
2019 – 3rd Place winner in 3 dimensional work - Light Space and Time – “9th Annual Seascapes” International Juried exhibition
2019 – Special Commendation award by the President of the XII Florence International Biennale Florence Italy
2017 – Cedars Union, Lecture Series “Creative Careers Showcase – Featured Speaker: Saba Besier”, Dallas, TX
1999 – New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), 1999 Emerging Artist Recognition – New York, NY
1990 – American Intercontinental University – Emilio Pucci Scholarship, London, UK
1989 – Harlingen Cultural Arts Center – Annual Juried Art Exhibition. - Grand Prize Recipient, Harlingen TX

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

“Mutant Beauty I Aquatic sculptures” – Terrain.org – August 2021
“Saba Besier” - Marvelous Artists Book No:2: Collective Art Book Series – July 2021. Pg 99
“Issue 03 2021” – Art Magazineium – May 2021, Pages 8-9
“Featured Artist ” - Thought Art Magazine – July 2020. Pg 90 - 93
“Saba Besier” - Friend of the Artist 11th Edition (FOA) publication – January 2020. Pg 36 - 39
“Featured Artist”, IARS Annual Artist Publication in Partnership with Trammel & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art – 2013. Pages 26, 27, cont pg. 60
“Morphons and Entwined”, The Guild Sourcebook for Architectural and Interior Art, 2007. Pg 113.

ART PUBLISHING

Poems Art, Saba Rasheed and Shams Rasheed Collaborative Collection, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2006 – 2009
New Era, Saba Rasheed, Austin, TX, 2012