Talking Practice: In Conversation with Usama Alnassar, part 2

Figure 1: Usama Alnassar and students in his Carrara studio.

In this post, we bring you the second part of our conversation with Usama Alnassar (click here to read Part I). Usama talks about how COVID has affected his teaching practice and how he has adapted to these challenges.

“I have been through many difficult situations where restrictions became protagonists, wars and bad politics made it difficult for me to move across countries even for art purposes. I remember the insane number of documents I but even though it was still possible to travel. 

The Corona Virus has managed to circulate around the world and reach every country. We have had to live with the heaviest restrictions on travelling and socialising in human history.

Restrictions and fears provided a fertile soil for me to meditate on our fragile existence and I have created several sculptures and painting to express that. But for the same reason I couldn’t travel to my students and they couldn’t come to my studio especially during the last two European winters.

I miss being with my people in Australia, at the Tom Bass Sculpture Studio School and in Byron Bay. 

I was looking for a solution to keep helping my most needy and advanced students, but I couldn’t see myself behind a webcam regularly, especially because I do not think it works well as a system for what I like to share with the aspiring artists. I thought that what is important for an artist would be working on his way of thinking and looking at his art and how to express feelings and visions.

I proposed to some of my students and aspiring artists an organic program of art teaching, I worked with each one individually, and tried to build up a general and specific knowledge of beauty techniques but then guided them to approach good artistic practices. My position later was becoming (the friend artist and mentor) until they face a major difficulty that needs instructions.

The biggest challenge was to keep the connection so we used email and WhatsApp to send photos of drawings, sculptures and explanations.

I would always start with sending exercises to do in order to improve creativity then I would correct with the digital pen directly on the images and send them back proposing another exercise or approach depending upon how l see each one’s needs. 

I was impressed with how fast my students were improving their relation to the space and their geometric forms, which is the most important thing to start with if you want to be a good artist. But, the most challenging thing for some of them was to combine this knowledge of the geometry with their sculptures and ideas, so I was sending analysis of good and famous sculptures to explain how simple are the geometric combinations and composition. In other words, you have to think in a simple way to create a complex thing. 

In the last month my European students have come back to my studio and we are living the wonderful experience of being together sculpting and living. Internet is good and necessary only when we can’t be together. 

Here are comments from two students about what it’s been like working and being mentored by Usama.”

Figure 2: Elena Murgia at work at TBSSS

Elena Murgia: “I have been attending Alnassar’s classes in Sydney and Byron Bay since he introduced me to the marvel of marble carving a couple of years ago.

In the absence of face-to-face lessons, this year I started online mentoring and creative coaching sessions. I feel my artistic process has been taken to a different level with fresh perspective, honest feedback, clarity and bespoke help with creative blocks or key challenges in my work.

Usama is not only a fine artist and virtuoso carver, but also an incredibly talented teacher, genuinely interested in guiding his students through a journey that goes beyond the technical challenges of carving marble, constantly investigating the artistic process, sharing with great generosity and patience his own deep understanding of both figurative and abstract approaches to sculpture.

I would highly recommend this to anybody serious about challenging themselves in the interest of developing themselves as an artist.”

Figure 3: Alessandro Tosetto working at home

Alesandro Tosetto: “It has been a great privilege to work and learn from Usama, under his guidance I’ve been able to advance my technical skills twofold. But more importantly, he has taught me how to immerse myself into the whole creative process from the initial idea to shaping the final body of work. Throughout this journey, he’s encouraged me be conscious of who I am as an artist while helping me explore who I am as a human being.”

Many thanks to Usuama, Elena and Alessandro for sharing their experiences with us. If you would like to find out more about the mentoring experience with Usama, please click here to email Usama directly.