Since graduating from the Sculpture Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University in 2008, visual artist Raidan Mondher has managed to carve out a unique expressive style for himself in creating his resin sculptures.
Sculptor Mondher indicates that after graduation, he worked on a three-phase project; the first phase included creating resin sculptures of people in the form of rats, stemming from the idea that when a person loses their humanity, they sink below the level of the earth.
In 2015, the Arab Cultural Center in As-Suwayda hosted a solo exhibition of his works titled "Transformation".
He points out that in the second phase of his project, he moved away from fusion and transformation, using stone materials such as basalt or white stone, and shifted to modifying the rat shape and adopting simplification in some works.
Afterward, he moved to the third phase, through figuration (humanity)—women, men, and even children—drawing his work from daily life, such as bus passengers, a family riding a motorcycle, or people at a bus stop, among others. He continues to work on this project within expressive figurative states using a unique, distinct style, and by introducing various materials such as metal combined with artificial marble.
Medal Project
In addition to this, Mondher is working on another project titled "Medal," which is concerned with commemorating figures, including martyrs and living individuals, by personal request. This is done through carving on basalt or using resin or Lebanese white stone. He completed a relief of Saint George in this stone in Lebanon, measuring two meters high, 150 cm wide, and 12 cm thick, in addition to many sculptural portrait works.
Exhibitions and Workshops
Mondher's artistic career has seen participation in many solo exhibitions, including an exhibition in the Chouf region of Lebanon in 2012, another at the Arab Cultural Center in As-Suwayda in 2015, and another at the "Haki" café lounge in As-Suwayda in 2016. Furthermore, he participated in group exhibitions at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in 2007, the Akram Wehbe Gallery in Jaramana in 2009, the French Cultural Center in Damascus in 2009, the "Art Forum" gallery in 2017, and the As-Suwayda branch of the Union of Fine Artists in 2010, 2018, and 2019.
He also participated in several workshops at the Higher Institute of Applied Arts at Helwan University in Egypt in 2007, in Amrit, Tartus in the same year, in Jableh, Latakia in 2008, at Qalaat Ja'bar in Raqqa in 2009, and in the visual arts event in Palmyra in 2008.
According to the head of the As-Suwayda branch of the Union of Fine Artists, artist Hamad Azzam, sculptor Raidan Mondher possesses a career of artistic dedication and serious work, having worked with multiple materials including basalt, metal formations, modern materials, and marble. He notes that his subjects have addressed certain animals with movements unique to his style, attempting to humanize them, in addition to some reliefs and sculptural ornaments made of basalt. He has many joint participations with the Union of Fine Artists inside and outside Syria.
A Son of As-Suwayda
Sculptor Raidan Mondher was born in As-Suwayda in 1986. He holds a degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Sculpture Department, at Damascus University in 2008. He works as a teacher at the Second Faculty of Fine Arts in As-Suwayda and is dedicated to sculpture. He received a training certificate from the Higher Institute of Applied Arts at Helwan University in Egypt. His works are collected at Moussa Castle in the Chouf region of Lebanon, and he has a joint work in Al-Qaboun Park in Damascus, in addition to art works collected within Syria.
