Sylvain Tremblay to create portrait out of sand
DUBAI, May 2014:
Internationally renowned artist and Canadian University of Dubai
lecturer Sylvain Tremblay is making final preparations to create the
largest ever portrait of the late Sheikh Zayed out of sand.
The painting will be created in the desert just outside Dubai on May 12th
when Tremblay, who specialises in creating artworks that celebrate
culture and traditions around the world, will drop sand collected from
the desert onto a 10m by 10m canvass from a hot air balloon 15 metres in
the air to create a high contrast image.
The technique is one
invented by Tremblay himself, a style he developed and honed at Canadian
University of Dubai. Using the University’s roof as a preparation
space, he has practiced many times on smaller canvases to ensure
everything goes to plan.
This week he will attempt a trial run in the desert and he admits that this is the most challenging project of his career.
“This is the most
inspiring thing I have done and definitely the most technically
difficult,” he said. “We are dealing with the elements of the desert and
I will be floating between 10 and 20m above the ground, so there is
plenty of opportunity for things to work against us.
“The technique is one I
first tried at an inventors convention in Abu Dhabi, but Canadian
University of Dubai have supported me as I perfected it.
“It’s a
great honour for me to be able to produce the biggest painted portrait
of the great Sheikh Zayed. It was important to me when planning the
performance that everything was natural and that it paid tribute to the
UAE’s natural elements. The desert was the natural place to do this and
using sand from the desert made the perfect choice.”
