The 'Night Journey'

This is my interpretation of the miraj, which refers to the ‘night journey’ in which the Prophet Muhammad was transported from Mecca to Jerusalem and then upwards, towards heaven. It is a copper plate etching that features plenty of aquatint, to give it the starry sky effect.

According to legend, the Prophet was transported on the back of a winged horse-like creature with the head of a woman, called al-Buraq. The creature bears comparison with the winged monsters of ancient Babylonian and Persian mythology, which often served as guardian figures. Indeed, Muslim historians made this connection. When Ibn Balkhi visited Persepolis in the 12th century, he associated the bearded bull monsters at the gateway of Xerxes palace with al-Buraq. For this depiction, I have followed the convention, observed by most medieval Persian and Ottoman miniature painters, of veiling the Prophet’s head, which is encircled by a fiery nimbus.

The image that I worked from was this wonderful 17th century Safavid painting, in which the Prophet is seen raised above a flurry of clouds into the angelic realm, with Gabriel as his guide, against a starry moonlit sky, and surrounded by a sacred flame. The ornately curved cloud shapes and delicate flames licking around the Prophet’s form shows the stylistic influence of Eastern-Chinese painting on Persian art. However, the tradition of Persian miniature painting developed into something very unique. It is a flat, largely abstract way of panting which balances luminous colour, shape and decoration, to create a type of dream world. As Oleg Grabar, a scholar of Islamic art points out, human figures do not enjoy the centrality that is given to them in Western art but appear as one amongst many pictorial elements within an overall design. I was also thinking of Tiepolo’s ceiling frescos, and his amazing underside views of flying horses.  

Included as well is a more stylized interpretation of this theme, which I made for an unfinished comic book. 

Etchings

These are some etchings that were made during my time at the National Art School in Sydney. I really loved etching. It's like an extension of drawing insofar as the copper plate, and the acid one bathes it in, work on the image long after one's original marks have been made. The image is also determined by how much the plate is wiped before going into the press. In places you can wipe it hard for a strong light, or leave sections a little inky for extra atmosphere and depth of shadow. This tactile process, and room for serendipity, gives to etching an originality and richness that is impossible to replicate. There's really no medium quite like it.