Awang Damit Ahmad

The work is in good condition overall, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. There is light wear and handling around the edges of the painting but only visible upon close observation. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals no evidence of restoration. Unframed, on a Stretcher.
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The distinctive abstract expressionistic brushwork in Perjalanan Utara: Kinkir Pun Mula Sepi (A Journey to the North: Even the Beginning of All Things Start with Silence) has placed the Malaysian artist Awang Damit Ahmad at the forefront of Malaysia’s contemporary art scene today. Painted in 2010, Perjalanan Utarais is part of the artist’s third stylistic phase known as “The Iraga Series.” Having spent some time in the United States while pursuing his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1989, Awang gained exposure to the conventions of Western art. The current Lot exemplifies a spiritual quality that is deeply rooted in the executions of Awang’s body of works. According to Associate Professor Dr. Muliyadi Mahamood of UiTM, Awang paints with all his senses, as "he sees, hears, touches, feels, and smells his subject and the world around him. He incorporates all these sensory perceptions into his paintings."

The experience of poverty and his father’s background as a fisherman and farmer served as major inspirations for Awang’s profoundly hermetic works. Amid the expressive strokes and obscure shapes in Perjalanan Utrara are remnants of architectural elements that structure our vision; they symbolize a broken windmill after a busy harvesting season. Awang is struck by the abrupt silence and desolation in the empty paddy fields towards the end of an agriculture cycle. The selective use of colours on the canvas suggests the artist’s sensitivity to the different hues and their associated meanings. For Awang, the colour grey remains the most sacred and significant of all, because it represents a blurred hope. The sparring use of light grey therefore hints an underlying optimism in Perjalanan Utrara albeit a melancholic subject matter. Viewing the painting from a distance shows an intuitive and intellectual division of space on the canvas, where the disparate elements suspend in an optimal stasis.