This abstract by Khalil Ibrahim is rare and precious, more difficult to decipher as it does not follow his usual repertoire like in his 1960s play of organic knots or his raglike slivers of coloured strips from the late 1980s. The play of inordinate colour shapes within a heartthrob is evident as fragments spill out at the top while a faint thin rectangle frame adds a semblance of harmony against an orange backdrop of enthusiasm and celebration. Except for the yellow-hued blotch on the top left, the colour palette is decidedly duller making contrasts slightly less palpable. Therein, the push and pull of emotional status. One of the most versatile southpaws in art, Khalil Ibrahim was both gifted and painstakingly conscientious whether painting in batik, acrylic, oil, watercolours, pastel or pen drawings. Hallmarks of his rigorous tutelage at the St Martin’s School of Art and Design in London (National Diploma of Design and Post-graduate). On his return home in September 1966, he had the rare distinction of not having to teach but instead became a fulltime artist. In 1970, he had a double solo at the Samat Art Gallery and he followed up in the same year with a solo in Indonesia. Khalil celebrated 50 years of painting in the exhibition, A Continued Dialogue, at Galeri Petronas, Kuala Lumpur in 2004. Khalil was a co-founder of the Malaysian Watercolour Society (MWS) and he joined the painting expeditions to Sweden (Simrikshawn to Uppsala) and India (New Delhi to Nainital / Joelikot).