Salamon about his own work

The following is what Joseph Salamon says about his own work and his ideas:   

Even though my works are not naturalistic, the source of my works is mother nature, the one surrounding us, and the one within myself.

Starting from a three dimensional idea I work through sketches and drawings to crystallize a still more simplified result, imagining my work placed in the nature that embraces it. Through this proces I can abstract from the once so natural to a more and more surealistic perception.

I choose my materials, bronze, stone or wood, which ever best suits the expression of my original idea

Critical Survey

Joseph Salamon's sculpture is serene, balanced, with lyrical resonances and reflecting sentimental nostalgia. Human feeling is always there, even in his geometrical forms and most abstract expressions. His sculptures are entitled The Tree of Life, Rose of the Wind, Sunrise, Moonlight, Japan, Cluj (his hometown), Paris (a city he loves).All express his love of life, early experiences, reality and Nature, which are his main sources of inspiration."I chose sculpture because I love volume and have a sensitive touch" he says."I try to express the power of Nature, of which we are only a part. We are controlled by Nature, yet we have mastered its elements: stone, wood and water. I wish my work to start a dialogue with the world, in order to clarify the strong ties between Mankind and Nature according to my humanist and pantheistic conception".In fact, Joseph Salmon's work reflects his ideas. He prefers to hew his material directly. He sculpts marble and granite with the hand of a master, keeping the volume intact, lovingly polishing the large simple planes from which all detail has been eliminated.But the sculptor also has training in graphics. His work can be divided in two major categories: marble or stone sculptures with closed volumes, and sculptures in bronze or copper with vast, cut-out surfaces, often bearing signs in relief.There are, however, characteristics shared by both categories: simplified forms, balance and even symmetry, the need for order and harmony, the rejection of violence in the artistic language, the search for synthesis in formal expression. On the other hand, in the metal sculptures and especially in the sculptures of wood, he uses the volumes of space in the openings created within.   

Ionel Jianou.