작품 상세

Memories of his life came flooding back in objects which he explored in intrinsic patterns like the pucuk rebung (bamboo shoots) and the spiral weaving patterns (corak anyaman), with items like the rattan mat and Iban corset thrown in. Since his 1985 Ingatan Waktu Kecil, Awang Damit had taken to playing on a white backdrop off-and-on. It took a long time before collectors caught on to Awang Damit Ahmad's highly symbolic autobiographical works starting with his Essence Of Culture series (E.O.C. or Intipati Budaya, 1985-1995), on the interdependence and conflicts between Man and Nature. The key message from the E.O.C. series is to overcome challenges, work hard and make an honest living. How he transitioned from farmer / fisherman and a Telekom technician, to take up art at a relatively late age of 27, and then became an artist and art academician. His tutelage at the Mara Institute of Technology, where he topped his class, and his Masters at the Catholic University in Washington, and retiring as Associate Professor at ITM in May 2011. His accolades: the prestigious Major Award in Salon Malaysia III, the Minor Award in the Bakat Muda Sezaman (1984) and 2nd Prize in the Malaysian Bank Association art competition (1988), and the Gold Award in the Ecorea Jeonbuk Biennale and the Olympic Fine Art in London, both in 2012. He was in the elite Malaysian delegation in the Contemporary Paintings of Malaysia exhibition at the Asia-Pacific Museum in Pasadena in 1988. Today, Awang Damit is among the top 3 living artists in Malaysia.