Archaic Procession

The act of sketching for Karam is a lifelong, almost instinctive practice; not only a tool to express/approach the self and the other, but also to comprehend and configure a relation to personal and external realities. Karam’s work on paper is thus the foundation from which his paintings, sculptures and public art emerge and expand.
‘’For me, says Karam, the creative process is basically a manifestation of the inquisitive mind and human condition through stories, memories and identities, starting always with the stroke of a pencil. Although constantly in doubt, I have the certainty that it is about creating, not destroying. Sometimes, it feels like we are working against the tide, but it just needs persistence; this optimistic act of sketching.’’

The Archaic Procession emerged in Karam’s work in the 90’s as a visual vocabulary; a series of black, individual yet inextricably interconnected humanoid-animalesque shapes that became the basis of Karam’s artistic language.

The Archaic Procession communicates in an archetypal language that goes beyond borders, cultures and creeds. His figures, each different from the next, follow the same course, and share the same destiny. The diversity of its shapes emerged as Karam’s response to confessional or socio-political disparity as a cause for division and war.