This work, from the eponymous Api, Bayangan & Kemenyan solo exhibition in April 1998 looks like some form of symbolic regalia or a candelebra — a far cry from his Killing Tools contraption of spare parts, metal rods and sharp-pointed metal objects. Whereas Killing Tools were rough, crude and menacing, this series exudes grace despite the mythical allusions. It is a study of religion and rituals, an experiential work encompassing the spiritual and conceptual, with ‘Api’ (fire) being a source of light shaping space and colours and kemenyan (incense) providing an intoxicating aura or aroma to the bayangan (shadows) formed by the light. On all these are shaped the character, from the viccisitudes of life. In the article, ‘Killing Tools, Dancing Warriors’, in the May 2009 issue of NAFAS, artist-critic-curator Nur Hanim Khairuddin views ‘Api, Bayangan & Kemenyan’ as an “attempt to reject all figurative references” after appearing to be “imbued with a feeling of guilt of having made human-like statues.” And Raja Annuar of Pelita Hati, which is his sole representative, said: “His commitment in his search of truth, faith and his study of religion and ceremonies related to them, has given rise to this new series.” Raja Shahriman’s works cover the spectrum of Nature, Religion and Culture, and are all rooted in Malayness, first captured the imagination with his Killing Tools (1994) in the Killing Tools, Lalang and Warbox exhibition. He used metal scraps for linear anatomical constructs. He had his first solo, Gerak Tempur, in 1996. He enrolled as a painting major at the Mara Institute of Technology but switched to Sculpture in the fifth semester, graduating in 1990. In 1994, after three years of teaching at the Malaysian Institute of Art (MIA), he returned to his hometown Kuala Kangsar.