Khaled Ben Slimane (Tunisian, b. 1951)

'I painted, I drew, I played around with Japanese and Arabic calligraphy on wood, on paper. I didn't have to make a choice; I learnt everything between Spain and Japan. My reading no doubt guided me. I went round in circles looking at the blank work.
I got into frenzy, a passion for the sign, I repeated the name of God endlessly, the name of Allah submerged my work. My need to transcend had found an echo, the name of God on earthen shapes. This stage enabled me to be more accurate, more concentrated. But it's true, I am at the same time a painter, a ceramist and a sculptor.'
(The artist in conversation with Marianne Catzaras, in M. Catzaras, Khaled Ben Slimane Ceramics of Tunisia, Paris 2004, p. 41).