Sculptor Dr Gindi and her Unending Probe into Infinity
A primary figure among contemporary sculptors, Dr Gindi is internationally known for her semi-figurative work. Being open to the unknown, her artistic practice is distinctive in terms of its engagement with metaphysics. And there seems to be a recurring esteem in her oeuvre: to be attentive about where human decay ends, and infinity begins. Dr Gindi’s intimate and speculative works are entrancing – with a vitality demonstrating the interconnected character of art and science. We talked with Dr Gindi about Karl Popper’s influence on her work, the aberrations that construe the truths and paradoxes of life, and her meandering into the infinity of human existence.
Dr Gindi. Photo courtesy of Braschler/Fischer.
My first questions are plain and straightforward, while being personal too. What is the importance of decay in your sculptural practice? How does decay relate to your own personal epiphany, as an artist-turned-physician? And what are the properties of infinity that give perspectives to human yearning, set to prevail over decay?
“Art has always been an intrinsic part of my reasoning. Never not there. But I started my life’s journey as a physician, convinced that biology and medical science are falsifiable, in a very Popperian sense. At one point I gave up that promising medical career as I wanted to fully devote myself to three-dimensional art. Intrigued by the experience of my clinical work, and influenced by Karl Popper’s notion of falsifiability, I wanted to approximate the real truth of the human condition whilst expressing the relation between suffering and enduring. And I learned to cope with the most delicate part of being – the languishing awaiting infinity.
From the beginning I was drawn to various forms of oblivion - though I perceived and portrayed the carnal decomposition in all its determined mischief. My sculptures are replete with images of maiming and decay - bodies are sundered, torn apart, distorted. Whilst depicting the decay of the human body hither and thither, I endeavor to add a sense of transformation. The characters in my sculptures yearn for fulfilment, for the vast magnitude of the universe, for infinity - leaving us redeemed and enshrined. My works shall be understood to be stoutly cathartic, enacting a turn from a world of deformation to an august world beyond form.”
The ontological status of decay and the search for infinity are highlighted in your work, whilst speculation seems to be the basis of your creative process. Why? What role does scientific knowledge play herein?
“Decay is something that isn’t always palpable at first sight, but finally it always is, as it is entrenched in our human condition. And I unendingly scavenge for it. While I decided to pursue sculpting rather than a career in medicine, my scientific knowledge surely helped me to create oeuvres where the encounter of decay with infinity occurs within the medium of clay, the material building my works.”
“Between fragility and resilience, my sculptures shall impart a sense of absconding, and at the same time they yearn for transformation, probing the very essence of being. With this contradiction that’s where it gets interesting: I believe that my works are intensely experimental, finding speculative expressions in imaginary and definitions of objectification – physical, mental and emotional. And the pulse of my works slowly moves.”
Let’s stay a moment with your creative process, Dr Gindi. What is the process like when artists go to their studio and begin to work? Is there a phenomenological dimension to it? What informs the unique creative universe we find in your sculptures?
“I believe we need to demystify the artistic process, at least the sort of aetiological approach existing in our imagination. Let me explain what I mean: Artists might use three layers to approach their works during the creative act: First, the technical proficiency, based on pure dedication and discipline. In the past, particularly in the Renaissance, art meant craft, skill and technical ability.
Take the sculptures of Michelangelo which are close to perfection. Still, believing that technical proficiency is a must, I am convinced that outstanding art cannot be reduced to it. The second layer is what I want to call the self-expression of the artist - which appears to the outside, in a rather Dionysian sense, as eccentric otherness. Celestial artworks almost form themselves, the artists are told and led by a higher force. And still bear the artist's personal hallmark. In this second layer, creativity and inspiration are directly correlated with the expressivity of the artist’s personality. That genius-like genesis of art, combined with technical proficiency, is what is floating around in our heads when thinking of the artistic process.
But we artists need to add a further layer: the intellectual engagement with the world of ideas. Attempting to defy a given context, a current state of affairs, we artists are torn in between conjectures and refutation, to use Karl Popper’s terms. The artistic process is almost a tale of woe, as we become part of our work, agonizing with it, revivifying with it, trying to find answers to the eternal questions of humanity. Where are we coming from and going to? What is truth and its inherent paradox? And how should we act, within that infinite microcosm and macrocosm?”
The interference of those three layers of creativity is sometimes difficult to capture on a recurring basis. In your specific case, where does creativity come from? And, with your search for infinity, are you emerging as the embodiment of your own creative process?
“The search for infinity is crucial to me, it is reflected in all my works. Throughout ancient times many philosophers, mathematicians and artists pondered over its contradictory yet all-embracing nature. Infinity consists of rudiments and irregularities, we have the crucial choice to become infinite on the way toward our mental abstraction, or shall we surrender to our appalling fate. Coming back to your question: I am immersing myself into the third layer, into the intense pursuit of philosophical inquiry.
I am therefore greatly benefiting from Popper’s objectivist approach as it provides a noetic account of creativity, and finally the freedom to reason in all directions. I am aware, though, that knowledge is always incomplete as our surrounding environment is permanently changing. Hence, my artistic process is by no means an algorithm or a magic wand. Tossed and turned by doubts, I approach the idea of infinity from different angles, testing the underlying principles of my conceived sculptures. By doing so, I get struck by poetic flashes. And my sculptural skills help me translate flash into form, not least in order to leave form at the bottom of its limb. All three layers of creativity interact, exerting causal effects on one another. The substance - kneaded by my hands and fingers – begins to loom in front of me. In dialogue with the end that is its beginning.”
You seem to thrive on the pursuit of philosophical discourse! What is the meaning of life, according to you? And how much of your own pursuit - and the cosmos you are essentially part of - is present in your sculptures?
“No straight lines make up my existence. Being a sceptic sculptor, I am convinced that our lives have deep rooted meaning. Being certain about a world without end, I am anxious about the idea of infinity. We can build our own arcadia where the events and people in our lives are meaningful and more than just souvenirs of momentaneous felicity. In the Popperian quest for infinity, I yearn to excavate traces of distinctiveness and very intimate selfhood in my works. But the protagonists in my sculptures are far from being self-centered, they always define themselves in relationship with their environment - being is invariably being with others, for others. We are all bound together by the very fact that we are humans. In that community of destiny, in that open and infinite cosmos, we have to find ways to live together and to care for each other.”
Well, your sculptural practice can be seen as versatile metaphysics to reach infinity, beyond human decay. To conclude our conversation: could you reflect more about sculpting as a metaphysical act and how such endeavor unfolds between your work and its viewers? In other words, do physicality and meaning form a whole?
“With my work, I want to show what human existence could really mean. And infinity is, as you’ve noted, a central line of inquiry inside my practice. The inflection points of our reasoning are our existence’s beginning and its end. I follow here again Karl Popper who called for institutional forms of togetherness that are open to the unknown and allow us to flourish. But I also recognize the existence of ultimate questions – like the thriving for infinity - which cannot be solved by using scientific means only. I do not claim any final certainty from science and yet I believe that physicality and meaning coalesce with each other.
Ultimately, I try to communicate human choices through the lines of body and mind in the moment of their transformation. Moreover, my practice is an invitation to viewers. Through my sculpting I send out signals, stimulating and inspiring them to enact their own immanent transformation.”
Your own passion to seek and to sculpt, combined with a genuine belief that infinity is for everyone, makes your work so intriguing. Thank you very much for this exchange, Dr Gindi.
Website: www.dr-gindi.com
Instagram: @gindisculptor
