May 3–26, 2019
The exhibition “Form and Fantasy- A Hero’s Journey” depicts realistic bronze and aluminum life-castings, as well as printed black & white comics as a narrative about heroes, humanity, and the fight between good and evil. Nahas enjoys utilizing the human form because they are beautiful as stand alone forms, they are also figures that the viewer can relate to and engage with. By making the figures without faces, it becomes more mysterious and fantastical; the forms begin to create a relationship with its viewers, and allows the viewers become vulnerable to the expressions the art provides. This susceptibility gives them a sense of malevolence and/or benevolence that is often the range of one’s associations. Nahas uses this vulnerability as a source of power. It takes a brave and confident person to make themselves vulnerable, for they must have the strength to withstand the consequences, to become a hero.
“The narratives are purposefully ambiguous as there are many ways to interpret a single piece. Concrete gender roles no longer exist. Females can be more like males and males can be more like females. Upon closer inspection, one realizes that the piece is conceptually more complicated than the figures they assume. I blend the beautiful with the sad, fantasy with reality, idealism with truth as well as the deviant with the innocent. I decidedly leave these compelling dualities open for the viewer to draw their own conclusions. The fictional elements juxtaposed with non-fictional bodies are there to turn the world up-side-down and to leave the viewer off balance. Fantasies become realities and dreams become actuality. ”
