The Body of Music – An Interview with Salma Caller | ArtSHIFTING
The Body of Music – An Interview with Salma Caller
Salma Caller
Salma Caller was born in Mosul, to an Egyptian father and an English mother. She spent her childhood in Africa and then moved with her parents to Saudi Arabia as a teenager. Her multi-cultural identity has become a great asset to her creativity and is seen throughout her work. She started painting, at the age of six, while living in Kano, Nigeria, when she discovered the her neighbors drawings using pen and pencil to startling effect. Her work has been in exhibitions in London and Oxford since 1996.
Salma Caller - The Body of Music
ArtSHIFTING: What is the official title of this painting?
Salma: This painting is called The Body of Music. I affectionately call her hybrid musical instrument creature. She comes with a text piece that does not explain her but relates to her meanings. The painting is 114cm tall and 33.5cm wide.
ArtSHIFTING: When was The Body of Music painted?
Salma: I started researching, sketching and outlining concepts about five months ago. I used a 16th century collection of musical instruments at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford as inspiration for some of her forms and patterns although she is a creature of the imagination. I completed the painting at the end of March, but there are a few final touches to be made.
ArtSHIFTING: Where do you do most of your work?
Salma: I painted her in my studio in the conservatory at the back of my house in Reading.
ArtSHIFTING: What type of medium was used for this painting?
Salma: I use a type of water colour paint, St Petersburg White Nights, as they can be very translucent or very opaque, they lend themselves well to being built up in fine layers and are very intense and luminous pigments. The paints let me work in washes and put in very intricate detail that can be either brought forward of faded back. I use 300gsm (140lb) rough water colour paper and a range of sable and synthetic brushes.
ArtSHIFTING: Do you work in other mediums?
Salma: I also work in pencil, pen and ink and have worked with acrylics on canvas.
ArtSHIFTING: What are your paintings about?
Salma: Much of my work uses the hybrid and the ‘grotesque’/fantastical/imaginary and ornamental forms. My theoretical dissertation also explored this group of intricately related forms as being transgressive, disrupting boundaries and not allowing fixed ideas about ourselves, our bodies and identities. These forms allow transformation, ambiguity, flux. They are both concepts and visual forms that are shifting, not absolutes. They incorporate paradox and contradiction.
I am also interested in relationships between a physical/material world and a non-material/spiritual/emotional one, and how we are hybrids of these worlds. Our consciousness is in and via the material body and extends into objects (like musical instruments) beyond our actual body. I am interested in how the imaginative ‘mind world’ extends out into a supposedly separate and ‘real’ world, transforming and altering our perceptions.
The musical instrument painting is about a body that is both physical and non-physical. It is about how emotions, thoughts, ideas, feelings, spiritual experiences, that are all so intangible, are yet inseparable from our tangible and material bodies. In this work I explored the idea that our bodies are metaphors of the musical instrument and that musical instruments are also like embodied presences. Many of the old instruments in the museum I looked at suggest bodies and have carved heads. The intricate rose part of the musical instrument and its strings suggest bodily elements. They are like vocal chords or nerves, or maybe strange complex sphincters or valves, that mediate between some secret inner ‘empty’ space inside us (like the space inside the instrument) and an outer world. Music/emotions/creativity/song/things hard to describe, emerge from this inexplicable ‘empty’ space and alter our perceptions and transform us.
I studied science, medicine and pharmacology for my first degree, and think this feeds into to my work. I find of particular interest the notions in Western thought, of a separation of the body/mind or body/spirit, art/science, hand/mind, art/craft and so forth. So I explore these relationships. I am also interested in synaesthesia and overlap of the different senses. For example, when I listen to music I see/feel substances that are like fabrics or patterns that are like a kind of lace or embroidery. Non physical experience manifest as material.
ArtSHIFTING: What training have you received?
Salma: I am self taught and have built my techniques and skills slowly over many years. I spent many hours drawing plants and natural forms while living in Africa and in the Botanical gardens in Oxford and think these organic and natural forms are the basis of the forms in my work. I have recently completed a Masters of Arts in Art History which has enhanced my conceptual thinking and the contextualization of my work.
ArtSHIFTING: How did the training influence you?
Salma: Although the training in the Masters was theoretical, my creative process involves a strong relationship between images, words and ideas. Postgraduate study enabled me to more fully understand what my work is, and in what ways it carries meanings and in what contexts it might be understood. It has helped to formulate my ideas, and helped me to express myself and my thinking and to communicate this to others. I was always interested in making sets of work accompanied by networks of words or concepts. The philosophical and theoretical aspects feed back into my work in strange and indirect ways that often surprise me, and vice versa.
ArtSHIFTING: How would you describe your creative process?
Salma: My creative process is a strange mixture of looking, dreaming, thinking, drawing, writing and reading. Sometimes a seed of a painting will come from having seen a shape, or from a dream like picture of some indistinct thing in my head, reading a tale or a passage or an idea in a book. All these aspects are interlinked but influence each other in very oblique ways. Words may give me ideas/images that are not related in any direct way. It is very key to then spend a lot of time doodling, sketching and scribbling or just looking inwards or having space.
ArtSHIFTING: What artists have influenced you and your work?
Salma: At an early age I spent a lot of time looking at the work of a female artist, friend of my parents, who lived next door to us in Nigeria. Her work was intricate, complex and mysterious. The shapes she would create were rich, abstract and patterned yet contained with in them naturalistic elements. Faces and houses could be found hidden with the forms.
At home I was surrounded by books about Picasso and Van Gogh, Persian illustrations/illuminations of the life of the Prophet, and African art and carving. I also loved illustrations of fairy tales such as those of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac and Kay Nielsen. I’ve always loved the dreamlike and fantastical quality of these illustrators and their use of nature.
More recently, some of my favourite artists (and therefore I assume they must have some influence over how I think and see) are William Blake (the spiritual, other worldly fire in his work), Samuel Palmer, Kai Fjell, conceptual artists like Cornelia Parker, Joseph Cornell, New World Baroque, Renaissance grotesques. I also spend a lot of time looking at crafts, Islamic ornament, embroidery, folk art and carving. So I think I have a rather strange and multicultural set of influences.
ArtSHIFTING: What role should artists play in society?
Salma: I once heard an African artist explaining how he thought that artists were philosophers, valued members of society who help explain the world, help make meanings, assign and inscribe significance to events and objects in the world, how ever chaotic it might all seem, for the enrichment of his own life and those around him/her.
I very much agree with this view and feel this is what I get out of other artists/writers work and what I would like people to get out of my own work. I think that artists should provide ways to over come cultural and other barriers, to help people see/think/feel in new ways about the world and others they share it with and to challenge conventional thinking, and provide deeper more enriched understandings of what happens to us in our lives.
24 Responses to The Body of Music – An Interview with Salma Caller
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Ali s says:
I really like the way the artist used various colors in this piece, while still maintaining a flow throughout. The design of the background looks shell like, and keeps the eyes moving through the piece. The use of a cello for a womans body is a fantastic idea given the curves of both figures. My favorite part about this piece is the title “the body of music” I LOvE it!! it’s very creative, and fits perfectly
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Lindsey F. says:
I think the best pieces of art are done by artists that are self-taught, like this one. The use of dark line makes it very successful; it doesn’t stop the eye from flowing about the piece. It drags your eye throughout the watercolor painting. The use of dark blues and whites make the painting water-like and mysterious. I was pleased to see that this was the artist’s goal – her paintings originate from sight of a single shape, and she also intertwines her dreams and other thoughts into her works. This is really one of the coolest paintings I’ve seen in awhile – it is a piece I would like in my own home. The contrast of the cool blue and warm brown colors work very well together also. I love the way the delicacy of the guitar strings is exaggerated through the pinpoints of white color forming thin, broken lines. The blue background differs from the top of the bottom of the painting – in some parts it is soft and blurred together, (but always incorporating different blues and whites) while in other parts, it appears wing-like. All in all, I love the painting.
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Kellie F says:
Salma Caller’s artwork is my favorite to look at. I love how her imagination takes over, and she is able to relate it to her meanings. When I first glanced at this piece, I spotted the instrument as the body. The many lines and shapes are very detailed which make the painting come alive. The patterns of lines in the background differ throughout the painting. I also like the color change. The shift from dark blue to lighter blue, then to white and brown on the instrument. The colors work well together and create a feeling of being in a dream. This work reminds me of a sea horse with a musical body. I love it.
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Salma Caller says:
Thanks to every one who left wonderful comments about my work. I really enjoyed reading them all and find them very inspiring. Its great to hear how my work affects people and what they see in it and what they feel or think about when they look at a piece.
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Viviana B. says:
The Body of Music
I really liked this interesting piece of art, I love the colors, and the imagination the artist has put into this art piece. I also liked reading the interview she gave to Art shifting; it talks about what motivates the artist to paint this way. The artist explains her motivations and her interests into painting this art genre. This interview is very thorough and it helps the public understand more about the artist and her art.
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Sharron Robinson says:
My name is Sharron Robinson am currently taking art history! I love my art class I get to see and learn so much! I saw your piece The Body of music and stop right in my tracks! This painting is beyond beautiful I feel there are not enough words to explain how creative this picture is. Wow!I connect with the flow of a womens body and the devine music it can create. I absolutely like the tourquise color the circles look very pattern like it reminds me of a silk scarf woven perfectly into a wooden guitar. This painting implies alot this picture romances the naked eye!
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I noticed small guitar strings boken lines this piece appears dream like. The colors makes this picture jump out at you.The medium is water color the artist chose this medium because she believes they can be translucent they show intense pigments.I love the torquoise color the circles that look coiled and very patterned like.It reminds me of a beautiful oriental rug or a nice silk scraf. This painting implies alot to the naked eye.My first glance i thought it was a female in side a guitar representing what creative music she can make. This piece is truly expressive
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I love this piece it appears to be dream like.The medium is water color the artist chose this because she believes they can be translucent they show intense pigments i agree. I love the torquoise color hues it makes this painting very blissful.This piece reminds me of a beautiful oriental rug or a flowing silk scraf. This painting implies alot to the naked eye. I thought every detail was intricate and oh so creative. This painting jumps out at you and this piece is truly expressive! The body of music!
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Victor M says:
I found Salma Caller’s works of art fantastic and this piece really stuck out to me because I am a big fan of orchestra music. I loved the was the painting initially said to me that people are full of music and inside of us is just a very well played instrument. what really got me was the very emotional colors that were used the blues stuck out and had me really feeling serine. I really liked the way the woman’s face is textured to look like its made out of wood. I really found it cool that i could read the artists description of the work as i made my own in my head.
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Lauren C says:
I love this piece! I really like how she used an instrument as the body of the woman which makes the title of this piece called “The Body of Music”. It’s a very different and creative idea. The colors and design are so beautiful and I could look at this piece all day. I am glad I came across this piece and I am looking forward to viewing more of this artist’s work.
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The Body of Music-
What first caught my attention was the image used for the thumbnail on the main page of artShifting, it was the third circle on the seahorse looking object. It reminded me of a Mandala, which is a cosmic design of the universe. Why I mentioned a Mandala because music to me is the center of the universe, music has such a way about it to bring groups of people together. Which I believe she has accomplished with this piece, she brought many different pieces to create The Body of Music. I love the colors that Salma Caller uses. They are so tranquil and peaceful. She has such a good imagination to have created such a beautiful piece of art. I love the fact that she is self taught. It makes her works so much more real, and amazing. When artist have schooling, sometimes there is not much room for imagination, which Caller is not lacking. -
Natalie Rogers says:
This piece is amazing. The colors are so beautiful. The dark colors really help bring out the lighter colors. The brown contrast with the blues really well. It makes me feel as if it is soft but strong at the same time. Like you said, a contradiction. The guitar strings are done really well. It appears as if a lot if time has been placed into the strings alone. They appear so fluid, almost like water. I enjoy the different color streaks in the hair, it is very detailed. I can see the imagination in this painting and it takes me off into another world, a dream land. Great painting.
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Javoris Bryant says:
I find this piece of art very interesting, What i found most intersting about the painting was where she got her motives from for this particular painting. This artist is very creative and has great ability. I enjoyed reading her interview because she allows viewers to get to know her from another stand point and allows them to find out where she gets her ideas in a sort. The title of this painting fits very well as to how it was designed.
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Kaitlyn says:
At first glance I didn’t understand this painting. I thought the colors were beautiful and they caught my attention but I didn’t know what the painting was. However, after a second and third look I realized what it was and I loved it. The cello as the body of the woman is a brilliant idea and I love how the title goes so nicely with the painting. “The Body of Music”. I’ve only seen one piece of art from this woman but I can tell by this one piece that I would enjoy looking at other art by her. Great job!
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Megan says:
After reading that Salma was self taught, it amazed me that someone can start painting at such a young age. She said that she was inspired by Picasso and a neighbor that lived next to them in Nigeria, Africa. I know that Picasso’s work is very abstract, and Salma also stated that her neighbor’s work was abstract as well but also creative. By looking at the piece of artwork above, I can tell how these artists inspired her work of art. The painting looks mysterious, abstract, and colorful. The figure looks like an underwater mermaid mermaid, with the body of an old instrument. The colors are calm and beautiful, and give the painting a serene look.
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i love how this artist brings in her own life experiences into her pieces. callers painting, “the body of music” is definitely piece i like of hers, it really shows her imagination and her inspirations through this piece of work. my favorite part is the shape of the women’s body, how it shows the curves but also at the same time its the shape of a guitar. so it ties in a women’s body and a musical instrument. its crazy to me that she used water color for this painting. usually when i painted with water color my paintings were lighter. its amazing what she could do with water color. i think the blue and browns complimented each other a lot. usually when a painting is mostly one color its boring and your not really interested in it,well that’s my opinion but i really enjoy looking at this piece its amazing to me. callers painting was honestly one of my favorites that I’ve seen i really like how she put two things into one.
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Megan Stroud says:
This piece of artwork looks very abstract to me. Looking at this painting, i can see so many different things i did not see before. The medium of this painting looks like they used watercolor, instead of using pencil, pen, and acrylic paints. The color choices of this painting really makes the viewer seem relaxed and like they know what to expect. This painting is really appealing to me because you have to look into this painting with depth and a lot of thought. The artist, salma caller, put a lot of thought into this painting and it is obvious that she took time to create this piece of artwork.
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Breann says:
I truly love Salma Callers art work. It is very nice and easy to look at this is definatly somthing I would purchase for myself. Music is such a big part of my life so this painting really stuck out to me. This painting made me look her up and look at all the other pieces she has done.The piece is so moving and it really says a lot just by looking at it. I love the colors and the shapes. Wish I could have this one hanging on my wall. Amazing!
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Megan Schneider says:
This piece of art is so majestic. The style and the technique used is really incredible. I love the aqua colors and how it contrasts with the darker brown of the painting is really great. The whole play on words with “The Body of Music” I found to be really interesting as well. It is extremly creative and really sticks in my mind. It has a poetic sense about it as well that makes you want to just stare at it all day. Great piece of art work!
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Verenise says:
What I really enjoyed was the big beautiful art piece on this blog. The colors blend into one another in the background as the picture within is popped out to attract the attention without singling out the background or the art as a whole. The artwork was also interesting to know what kind of motivations she needs to be able to complete something amazing like this. Personally I like to be able to know and understand what it really takes for a person to create something like this.so
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Laura C says:
I believe the best is found. Salma Caller painting is just quite amazing. The detail and focus of the painting is just different but in a great way. The painting “the body of music” is such so interesting I can see a sort of a creature with a instrumental piece together with her. I love the fact that I can look at this painting and yet imagine many things. The artist using many different colors but yet knowing to stay in the focus area of the whole painting. I really like the fact that in my eyes it looks like a sea horse. The color blue brings out the whole painting. We can see the shape and sense of a women with the painting absolutely stunning!Love it! I wouldn’t mind having this hang from somewhere in my house or guess house.
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Helen says:
The Body of Music painting was such a thoughtful painting. Using the head of the instrument to create an actual face on it was really creative. The creativity obviously shows right away. You can see how there was a lot of thought put into this piece of art and has a meaning to life. I love how detailed the piece and the choice of color was perfectly chosen in the time frame of the instrument. Nicely done!
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Iris says:
This art has interesting colors. I think art that is made by self taught people is the best. I noticed that the guitar was the center of attention. I can almost see a body in this guitar. It’s very neat to look at.
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