An open air sculpture along Memorial Walkway.

Visitors to Lehigh University’s Memorial Walkway will discover an addition to the collection of outdoor sculptures usually found there: a cluster of tall, organic wooden forms that beckon passersby with twists and turns that break and fluidly join in space. This is artist Khalil Allaik’s Guardians of the Wind.  Viewers can walk among the sculpture’s three elements, observing curves, texture, and seductive voids—ongoing concerns in many of Allaik’s works.

Guardians of the Wind evolved from an earlier series of hand-carved works. In contrast, these larger-scale sculptures take advantage of modern materials and industrial techniques to achieve stability and longevity in the carving process. The surface is a carefully worked patina, designed to harmonize with the sculpture’s natural surroundings, evoking the change of seasons both through camouflage and contrast.

The sculptures play with positive and negative space, mirroring Allaik’s belief in the balance and complexity of nature. His focus on the void draws attention to concerns that lay beyond the physical world. Allaik’s mission is to translate his philosophy into a sensory experience, connecting the viewer with much more than meets the eye.

About the Artist.  Multidisciplinary artist Khalil Allaik is known for futuristic, hybrid forms that combine aspects of the organic, the anthropomorphic and the abstract. His process-driven work draws inspiration from his individual experience of cosmic forces such as the relationship of the earth to the universe, and the past to the future. In his native Lebanon, Allaik worked as an art dealer for eight years. He is a graduate of Lebanese University, Beirut.  Classically trained, he earned a fine arts degree in painting and drawing, as well as a degree in interior design. His work has been shown internationally. Allaik has lived and worked in the Lehigh Valley for the past twelve years.

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