It looks like one of Rafiee Ghani’s interiors with Matissean gaiety of colours from his series of The Painted Garden until one read the title, She Has Gone, and there’s a poetic and whimsical air in the emptiness — the empty chair and the pair of slippers, probably worn by the artist’s model. Three paint brushes are stood on a container in the centre, yes, the work’s done, and there’s a round wicker chair on the right for the artist to repose. It’s night, after all. The ‘studio’ cum living quarters look makeshift, with sparing painting materials, in a rented sea-side abode in Dungun. The scene is somewhat reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh’s painted Bedroom In Arles. Professor Muliyadi Mahamood wrote: “Rafiee’s Intimism possesses international aesthetic qualities which suit viewers regardless of geographical or cultural boundaries.” Rafiee Ghani was a two-time winner of the Minor Award in the Young Contemporary Artists (BMS) exhibition in 1984 and 1985, and followed it up with the Minor Award in the prestigious Salon Malaysia in 1991. He was 2nd in the Malaysia Art Open (MAO) with his work, One Day In Marang I, a Juror’s Choice winner in the Philip Morris Asean Art Award – Malaysia, both in 1994. He first studied at the De Vrije Academie Voor Bildeendie Kunst at the Hague, the Netherlands, in 1980, but did not complete. He finally obtained his Diploma of Fine Art at the Mara Institute of Technology (1981-1985), and a Master’s (Fine Prints) from the Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester Polytechnic) in Britain (1986-1987). He had taught at the UiTM from 1986 to 1988 and 1989 to 1990, and had a teaching stint in Mahe, the Seychelles, in 1991-1993.