“I have to express my own creative wholeness to give meaning to my own credibility, my own life.” – Ibrahim Hussein, Datuk. In this delicate piece, Ib assembles a collage of fabric in various sizes onto primed canvas filled with organic lines of red, orange, green and hints of brown. He carefully places the organic-shaped fabrics at the centre of the canvas to create a focal point that leaves the eyes drifting along the lines. Strands of threads extend beyond the void to create illusionary continuation of lines. Datuk Ibrahim Hussein was enrolled at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore in 1956. He received a scholarship to study at the prestigious Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting and the Royal Academy of Arts in London where he graduated in 1963 and 1966 respectively. A Fullbright Award saw him touring the United States and participating in exhibitions there. His career hit sky-high when he was selected to exhibit alongside Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali in Kuwait in 1977. In 1970, he was selected for the Smithsonian Institute workshop in the Venice Biennale. He had won many illustrious international awards, including the Japan Foundation Cultural Award (1988), the Monte Carlo 18th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art (1984), the Order of Andres Bello of Venezuela (1993), the Order of Bernardo O’ Higgins of Chile (1996), the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award (1997) and the Anugerah Tokoh Melayu Terbilang (2007). A rare recipient of triple “Datuk” titles from various royalties, Ib was honoured with a retrospective exhibition by the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur in 1986. After 11 years of struggles and planning, the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation in Langkawi was launched in 2000. Together with his wife Datin Sim, he had organised the Club Mediterranee Asian Arts Festival in Cherating, Pahang and in Bali, Indonesia, as well as the 1st Langkawi International Festival of the Arts.