In the toil and moil of going out to sea in a sampan boat, the preoccupation is only a good catch. No thoughts on floating on an unstable vessel, the weather, the brute force of hauling-in the net or strategy on landing fish, prawns, crabs and cuttlefish. The artist in Awang Damit Ahmad, who in his younger days had to help out in the sea as well as in the padi-fields is able to record and immortalise these unsung deeds in paint and poetic empathy. The sampan boat looms large like a shield, an emblematic badge, halving the composition across two spheres with all the attendant paraphernalia. Marista, extending from 1995 to 2002, is such an excursion continuing from Awang Damit Ahmad’s Essence Of Culture (1985-1995). This was shown in the Alun-alun Ke Marista exhibition at the National Art Gallery from June 28 to Aug 4, 2002. ‘Marista’ is Bruneian Malay for ‘lost memories’ or ‘dwelling on the past’. Awang Damit Ahmad is a relative late-starter in art. In 1975, he quit as TNB technician to study art at the Mara Institute of Technology, graduating in 1983. After his Masters at the Catholic University in Washington DC, he taught at ITM (UiTM) until retiring as Associate Professor in May 2011. His potential was seen when he won 2nd Prize in the Malaysian Banks Association art competition in 1988, the year he was selected to take part in the Contemporary Paintings Malaysia exhibition in Pasadena, United States. Awang Damit won the hugely coveted Major Award in the 1991 Salon Malaysia. Prices of his artworks often soar high in auction houses locally and abroad. His recent solo presentations include Garismega New Journey in Art Stage Singapore 2017, Special Tribute: Awang Damit Ahmad in Art Expo Malaysia 2017.