Zuhdi Sardar's Artwork

This first set of six sculptures was a series that was displayed in the Downey Art Museum in 1976. As you scroll down, you travel through different time periods and through a change in Zuhdi's art.

In 1969 I started having more visions. I wrote them down at first, but they were not quite clear. A couple years later they became my focus, and the story of The Forces surfaced. I did many experimental sculptures from fabric, fiberglass, cheesecloth, and resin. I did The Forces in 1974, and I wrote the story as I envisioned it. It was supposed to be published in 1982, but, unfortunately, the publisher filed chapter 11 and moved to Las Vegas in order to avoid paying his debt. But I did get my book back, and in 1979 I sculpted a piece that truly expressed these three forces.

Title: The Forces. Medium: Fiberglass, Cheesecloth & Resin inside plexiglass lightbulb.
Year Sculpted: 1981. Series: Forces.

There are three forces in a light bulb: positive, negative, and the tungsten. The positive force is represented by the Prince of Light, the negative force is represented by the Prince of Dark, and the tungsten represents man. This light bulb is not lit. The negative and the positive, as we know, cannot touch each other or they will burn each other's energy and destroy each other. They only way to have them connect is to have them connect through a medium, or a peacemaker. The peacemaker is tungsten, which was discovered in the process of making electricity. It converts positive and negative into an energy force. In the case of a light, it required connecting negative and positive with tungsten in the middle. Tungsten is man, man's invention. Without man, these two forces would not be able to live together.

But in my light bulb, there is no connection between the negative and tungsten (man). The Prince of Dark unfortunately does not trust anybody. What the Price of Dark has gone through in the past is beyond anyone's comprehension and imagination. The suffering the Prince of Dark has gone through has never been experienced by any living force in the whole of existence, so there is a task for mankind to deal with, because we all have the dark side of this experience. In human lives, their dark sides are the grounds that the Prince of Dark uses in order to manipulate for his own advantage. We, as humans, have to help correct our own shortcomings and dark side. We must educate ourselves in how to be efficient and avoid misfortune and tragedy, so that the Prince of Dark cannot use us through our weaknesses. We must help ourselves first before we can help him. If we understand that we are manipulated through our weaknesses, the Prince of Dark will not have any weak forces to play with and will, therefore, come to the realization that there is no point to his destructive side. Ultimately, we want the Price of Dark to regain his confidence and go forward, joining hands with the other two forces. That is the connection, and so there is light. Until this connection has been made, there is no light, no peace, and no hope. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Cosmic Dancer. Medium: Fiberglass, Cheesecloth & Resin. Year Sculpted: 1976. Series: Forces. Info: 1 of 5 in series. This as first displayed at the Downey Art Museum in 1976. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Father & Son. Medium: Fiberglass, Cheesecloth & Resin. Year Sculpted: 1976.
Series: Forces. Info: 3 of 5 in series. This was first displayed at the Downey Art Museum in 1976. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Salema. Medium: Fiberglass, Cheesecloth & Resin. Year Sculpted: 1976.
Series: Forces. Info: 4 of 5 in series. This was first displayed at the Downey Art Museum in 1976. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Artist's Physical Liberation. Medium: Fiberglass, Cheesecloth & Resin.
Year Sculpted: 1976. Series: Forces. Info: 5 of 5 in series. This was first displayed at the Downey Art Museum in 1976. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Kamaron & His Father. Medium: Fiberglass, Cheesecloth & Resin.
Year Sculpted:1980. Series: Forces. Info: This was displayed at the Downey Art Museum, located in Downey, CA, where it still remains.
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During Saddam's Regime Saddam would arrest thousands of Kurds. After arresting them he would send them to these torturing chambers which were located in Sulaymaniyah. After Saddam was removed, the Artist communities in Sulaymaniyah used these chambers as art studies and galleries. It was important to me to make these sculptures so that every American can see what has been done by Saddam's Regime to the Kurdish people.

Title: Untitled. Medium: Fiberglass, Resin, & Pigments. Year Sculpted: 1990.
Series: Kurdish Torture Chamber. Info: A sculpture from the Torture Chamber in Sulaymaniya during Saddam's Regime. This was shown through the Amnesty International, Los Angeles, 1993. It was also shown in conjunction with Anne Frank's Diary in the New Port Harbor Museum's Library. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Untitled. Medium: Fiberglass, Resin, & Pigments. Year Sculpted: 1990.
Series: Kurdish Torture Chamber. Info: A sculpture from the Torture Chamber in Sulaymaniya during Saddam's Regime. This was shown through the Amnesty International, Los Angeles, 1993. It was also shown in conjunction with Anne Frank's Diary in the New Port Harbor Museum's Library. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Fragment Standing Tall. Medium: Fiberglass, Resin, & Pigments. Year Sculpted: 1990.
Series: Kurdish Torture Chamber. Info: A sculpture from the Torture Chamber in Sulaymaniya during Saddam's Regime. This was shown through the Amnesty International, Los Angeles, 1993. It was also shown in conjunction with Anne Frank's Diary in the New Port Harbor Museum's Library. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Mother carrying dead child. Medium: Fiberglass, Resin, & Pigments.
Year Sclpted: 1986. Series: Effect of Chemical Weapons Info: This was done to show the effects of chemical weapons that Saddam used against the Kurds. It was shown at the Denver Art Expo in 1987. _______________________________________________________________________

Title: Monument Hallabja. Medium: Fiberglass, Resin, & Pigments. Year Sculpted: 1993.
Series: Effect of Chemical Weapons _______________________________________________________________________