A grim picture of modernisation — more specifically, what it robs us of. Pangolins, tigers and elephants have been hunted for their meat or various body parts, their numbers severely dwindling. Coupled with deforestation, leading to habitat destruction, these creatures have effectively been chased out from their homes, which in turn makes them more visible targets. In the midst of this, a lady lies, oblivious to the harm caused. In the name of development, Mother Nature is sacrificed, and the bottomline is Money, Money is the name of the game. Sooner or later, danger could be at our very doorstep, our actions coming back to haunt us. Self-taught Latif Maulan’s art career reads like a fairy-tale. Somewhat a drifter having worked as a dishwasher, waiter, advertising designer, shopping-complex display artist, he was given a resident’s artist stint in Kuala Lumpur, and a fulltime artist in 1992. He decided to venture abroad. To the Big Apple where he sold two large works in the Soloat Collector’s Party at Excel Gallery, New York (two weeks in 2000), Australia (2001), a year in East Sussex in Britain as a graphic designer (2002), and six months in Plymouth (2013), where he showed at the Barbican Gallery there. First solo, Parallel Universe, at the Art Case Galleries, Kuala Lumpur, 2006. In 2006, he had already moved into Photo-Realism figuratives from his Nature and still-life themes. A finalist in the 2009 MEAA competition, he won big in the Redbull ehwaubulan showcase in 2016. Latif made his Henry Butcher debut on his marbles painting on April 21, 2015, when his 2011 work sold for a premium of RM14,300, from a low estimate of only RM4,000.