Artist Statement: Nawfal Nur

Taking a creative idea and applying it to interesting objects, such as shells, candy or insects, and then making several unusual images from it, is Nawfal's ideal photography exercise, or navigation of a 'photographic-maze,' if you will.

"I prefer taking an ordinary object and putting it into situations that are surreal, or futuristic. I like to construct composite images of real objects and computer-generated scenes. I don't like to make things too complicated; however, I do like to give these compound images that 'alien-world' feeling, as you see in my Sci-Fi Landscapes photographs."

"I love Abstract Expressionism," says Nawfal. "When I took my Art History courses at UNL (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), I discovered how cool Jackson Pollock's work was…I thought this guy was 'out there!' Pollock communicated a lot in his paintings of splotches, spatter marks and streaks of paint all over. I try to do the same with my Photo Art images – starting with common objects as the subjects and using lots of brilliant colors to create striking photographs."

Since moving from Lincoln, Nebraska (Nawfal's hometown), to Penang, Malaysia, Nawfal has taken an interest in photographing and writing about cultural dances and Malaysian antiques.

Nawfal has worked for some of the top dance companies in Malaysia. He has also contributed feature stories with his photographs and articles on cultural Indian and Malay Dance to Standard Chartered Bank's "GOLD" magazine, "Dance Teacher Now" and "Dance Spirit" magazines.

Nawfal also researched and wrote photo-essays on the historical and mystical Malaysian sword, the keris, for "GOLD" and "BLADE" magazines. In addition, he has photographed and written on the traditional craft of designing and making Baba Nyonya jewelry. The Baba Nyonya people of Malaysia were the first Chinese to settle in Malaysia, adapting certain Malay cultural characteristics such as the Malay language and clothing styles, to a Chinese lifestyle.