FARMVILLE — Artist Kacem Sabti’s knack for embracing the ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary was on display June 8 when an exhibit opened at the Emily Monk Davidson Monk Gallery, 3725 N. Main St., Farmville.
The exhibit features 96 art pieces Sabti has created over his lifetime. Works range from wood carvings, masks and clocks to decoupage lamp shades, and also feature poetry written for his beloved wife, Greenville native Donna Whitley.
“The love poems are devotional and confessional, fulfilling the wedding vows. It was an expectation that Kacem would gift a written poem on every Feb. 14 and sometimes he was very late,” said Linda Adele Goodine, a Farmville artist and professor at East Carolina University.
The artworks range from whimsical to political and religious with most pieces displaying a Sabti’s sense of humor, she said.
“The clocks are surrealist and humorous reminding the viewer that the artist once possessed his own scrapyard,” Goodine said. “Through his curiosity like a walkabout, he traverses the corridors which create songlines via the creative unconscious. The songlines are his life’s work and imprint made physical through the art objects.”
Sabti is a native of Morocco. He was born in Fes, but raised in Casablanca. His passion for creation began at a young age. He and his brother took apart telephones — which were hard to come by at the time — and other electronic and mechanical devices to discover what was inside.
“We were very rustic. We used primitive tools,” Sapti said.
When he was about 15 years old, his father’s profession as an attache to France took Sapti to a new country. While there, Septi took the opportunity to learn more about art, with some of its influence being reflected in later creations.
Sapti attended Oberlin College in Ohio where he studied creating sculptures.
“It was more pleasant,” Sabti said, adding during this time he learned to work with more advanced tools.
He would continue to study sculpture and woodworking at the School of Fine Arts of Casablanca and in Japan. He also focused on printmaking with a private tutor.
Septi continued his studies in Ghana, where he joined other wood carvers from across the globe. He furthered his wood-carving and sculpture knowledge and learned the art of making masks.
“They would share with each other their techniques. It was interesting. They went out into the jungle one day and got wood. They were using balsa wood. It’s very lightweight,” Donna Whitley said.
While his passion is for wood sculpting, Sapti also has a talent in assemblage, which showcases his artist’s eye and surrealism skills. This work was inspired by his access to materials garnered when his father purchased a junkyard. While others saw junk, Septi saw beautiful possibilities.
“I have an affinity for wood and metal,” Sapti said, adding there was beauty to be found in discarded items.
“The colors of the metal — they were once used for something else. I found it and I used it for art,” he said.
“I always felt he did it because he was driven to it. That is what is so fascinating about living with someone who is an artist,” Whitley said.
“There is some kind of light inside him and he had to express himself to the world. It made me have another pair of eyes on the world. I now have two ways of looking at things. I didn’t have that before I married Kacem.”
His work reflects global schooling and experiences, allowing Sapti to draw from his “milieu” or his social environment, he said.
Inspiration for his pieces is everywhere, oftentimes with a discarded item drawing him in before its transformation.
Sapti recalls numerous times seeing metal on the side of road and stopping to collect it and later make a unique item.
“Some (pieces) require a lot of effort. Some are easy,” Sapti said, adding a piece of junk can be taken from its intended purpose and transformed into something else, so long as the mind is open.
“There are certain things there. You just have to declare it,” he said.
Sapti, 81, had his first art exhibition at the American Culture Center in Casablanca in 1974 and now lives in Charlotte. He lived in Greenville for 50 years.
The showcase will run until July 31. The Emily Monk Davidson Monk Gallery adjacent to the Paramount Theatre, 3725 N. Main St., is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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