Saimir Strati (Vlora, Albania, April 11, 1966) is an Albanian artist who is regarded as one of the world’s most well known modern mosaic artists. He has done restorations in Albania to several notable mosaics at the archeological sites of Byllis, Amantia and Appolonia and continues to discover secrets from the ancient technique. He is a member of the British Association of Modern Mosaic.
Saimir Strati is primarily an artist who works in mosaics. He has used materials including nails, toothpicks, corks, sea glass, eggshells, compact discs, coffee beans, porcelain and mirror glass among other materials. He is also a painter. The diversity of the artist’s subjects, material and technique distinguish Saimir Strati as being traditional and contemporary with his approach on reviving the old technique and professionalism in antiquity and the mingling of daily/ industrial material. Strati is heavily inspired by music, and in the mosaic series ‘The Four Seasons’ based on the Vivaldi concerto, each season is represented by a different musical instrument. This series was created over the course of more than five years. Another work on oil depicts traditional Albanian Polyphonic singers. ‘The King’ is a portrait of Elvis Presley measuring nearly 2 metres in height and uses over 400 CD’s. His work ‘Sea Girl’ is based on a legend from Vlora, his hometown. The story is about a young woman separated from her lover. She prays to become a fish to cross the sea to reunite with him. The artwork itself is made from sea glass which took the artist several years to collect. ‘Peace’ is a quintessential work of the artist, where the mirror fragments used in the mosaic reflects the message of our relation to peace.
