Najim Chechen’s love of art began with drawing & painting when he was 8 years old. At this early age, he started to win competitive art awards. His fascination with sculpture emerged during his high school years. It was at this time that he decided to pursue his studies in sculpture by competing  for admission to the Academy of Fine Art at the University of Baghdad.  In addition to his studies at the Academy, he was selected by one of his professors to be his personal apprentice in a professional studio that was actively producing important public commissions in both stone and cast bronze.

After graduation , Chechen established his own professional studio. He worked on a steady stream of commissions for clients. These commissions included public fountains, carvings in marble, work with cement, bronze castings and reliefs in wood , hammered copper and bronze.

In addition to his work for clients, he was also hired by the Ministry of Higher Education to train other teachers. During this period, each year he was encouraged  by the Ministry of Higher Education to travel for 3-4 months with pay.  Over a10 year period, his travels and adventures took him to the museums, galleries and artists studios in Italy, France, Russia and other countries of Eastern and Western Europe.   His adventures also included visiting numerous artist and craftsmen in many Near Eastern and North African countries where he discovered centuries old, low-tech methods and techniques.  From his travels throughout Europe, he encountered new materials and modern techniques.

After 10 years of teaching, Chechen was awarded the Best Teacher Award from the Ministry of Higher Education. This award included a four year Scholarship to pursue graduate studies in the US.  He chose to come to NYC and study at Pratt Institute. He graduated in 1983 with a Masters of Fine Arts degree. Before graduating, he took a leave of absence to pursue further studies of modern techniques of bronze casting at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, then in Princeton ,NJ.  It was here that he worked with the ceramic shell process using space age materials.

After graduation, he established a studio in Long Island City and worked full time as a professional sculptor completing commissions for clients while at the same time exhibiting his work in Manhattan. After 6 years, he chose to move outside of NYC and purchased several acres of land for a bigger studio, his own foundry and to facilitate the production of larger scale and outdoor work.

Mr. Chechen founded the Fine Art Studios Sculpture Center in Orange County, NY which operates both a year round series of workshops for adults as well as a bronze casting foundry.   He is also co-founder of the Hudson Valley Sculptors Society, an organization of sculptors throughout the Hudson Valley.  Mr. Chechen continues to exhibit throughout the New York metropolitan region, the Hudson Valley and out west.

Mr. Chechen’s work is highly inventive and playful. He creates sculpture in bronze copper wood, mixed media and terracotta. These sculptures transition masterfully between the intricate details of realism to the flowing forms of a playful impressionism.  The scope of his work is vast, spanning a variety of genres that includes figurative, contemporary, bas-relief, and public art.  His pieces range in size from miniature to monumental. He offesr collectors both limited editions and one of a kind pieces. All his bonze work is cast in the Fine Art Studios Foundry. In addition to producing commissioned work for private clients since the 1970’s, He also work with architects, designers and art consultants to create work for public parks, corporate headquarters and private residences.

Artist's Statement:

From the early 80's to the present, his figurative sculpture has evolved from a style that was quite naturalistic towards styles that became increasingly more impressionistic and abstract. 

Much of my work expresses the struggle for daily existence.  The figures express ambition and a yearning for hope and peace.  My figures depict simple people who are looking life in the face. I have chosen to model them in textures that are rough and even homely to suggest commonplace people who endure a life with rough edges and hardship. In my work, the viewer can feel the presence of a vulnerable human spirit.

I aim to represent the invisible spirit and soul and make it visible.  All my figures peer out at the world and ask what will follow next.  They look with anticipation, with hope. They are vulnerable but they love life and have a will to survive.

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Creative production expertise of the artist:

Mr. Chechen has been working with metals ( bronze, copper, brass, aluminum, steel and stainless steel) and wood for over 39 years. The range of projects he has completed includes exterior architectural facade reliefs, interior relief murals, figures in the round, friezes, public fountains and larger than life figurative public monuments.

His production expertise includes metal castings, metal fabrications, metal repousee techniques, metal and wood functional and decorative creations and fine metal sculpture restoration work. Numerous past projects have been custom jobs produced in collaboration architects, designers, CEOs of large corporations and private clients from numerous countries across the globe.

Mr. Chechen welcomes future collaborations for an unlimited variety of both indoor and outdoor projects on scales from table-top to monumental.

Client List : Selected list of commissioned projects and purchased works, 1970 - 2009

Aya Gallery Purchase of bronze of composition & Terracotta Figures London 2008-2009
Iraqi Embassy Figure compositions in bronze and terracotta New York 2007
Hyundai Gallery Bronze castings Korea 2005
John Pai Bronze cast works New York 2005
Montgomery,Watson,Harza Design and casting of 5 compositions of construction workers. Colorado 2001-2002
Adah Nicklin Enlargement & bronze casting of life size figure. New York 2000
Laurie Rockett Figure in Bronze New York 1999
Walter Mehr Steel workers composition of 3 bronze figures New York 1998
Mohammed Jallal Terracotta Bust Italy 1997 Ambassador Hamdoon Portrait busts casts in bronze New York 1996
Yongin Han- Fabricated works in stone, glass and wood New York 1995-1996
Perkins & Will Interior design project of fabrications in steel New York 1994
Asian Society Gallery Installation of Metal Fabrications in Steel New York 1992-1993
Nam June Paik Bronze cast works New York 1989 & 1998
Pesce Limited Fabricated metal projects New York 1989-1992
Marlborough Gallery- Numerous fabricated works including patinated bronze, stainless steel, aluminum & restorations New York 1988-1992
Michael Klein Gallery Copper Fabrication works. New York 1988
D. Gantenbein Bronze Mask Switzerland 1987
Iraqi Airways Composition of Dancers in acrylic New York 1983
Adnan Alehdemehr Relief in Bronze Sweeden 1977
Olympic Center Five Bronze Olympic medallions Iraq 1975
Nimr Saluum Relief in Wood Lebanon 1975
Mayor's Competiton Composition of 5 figures in bronze Iraq 1973
Tourist Resort Center Relief mural in Aluminum Iraq 1972
Sayyib Getmes Composition of Islamic Calligraphy Turkey 1972
Abdelah al-Zahrani Relief of dancers in copper Kuwait 1970