MOYO ROHO, 1976 Nigerian ebony, deer antelers, etc.

Moyo Roho is Kiswahili for Heart Spirit; the artist likes to translate the meaning of this piece as "Central Passion Spirit". 

FLYING LOA, installation, 2003; aluminum screen mesh, acrylic, copper foil.  Installations composed of the Flying Loa series were installed indoors and outdoors, from a roof top in Istanbul to the one in the photo above. 

     Amir Bey works in varieties of visual media; wood and stone carvings, ceramic, silkscreen and "stamp" printing on fabric; costume and set designs and etched copper foil.  For the latter, Amir's technique involves etching the face and body prints into copper foil, with the surface sometimes textured and heated, with the copper often nailed onto plywood. 

     Amir's favorite vehicle of expression is the face because it can communicate any  mood, energy, or thought; the face's endless manifestations are universal, personal and subjective, permitting it to be "read" by all viewers.  My work with the face ranges from stylistically primitive masks to life casts.  The life casts are cast in bronze, plaster, cement, fiber glass and other casting compounds.