14 August - 17 September Two Paintings
The first question for Thomas and Bahman is why show together? The answer is simple, “we're friends, we like talking to each other about ourselves” and “yes, we’ve been friends for a long time.” Inadvertently their show is a consideration of Islam in Australia.
Bahman’s Iranian mother grew up in an English boarding school. She married his father in Iran and when Bahman was 14 moved on to join her brother in Australia. Bahman’s father wasn’t interested in travelling, which has obliged Bahman to live a life of duality, shuttling between parents and cultures. He describes Iranian culture and Islam through ancient poetry surviving across the ever-changing political landscape of Persia his preferred name for Iran, which he identifies as a colonial construction. His painting, the smaller of the two presents the image of Zahak, an autocrat drawn from the Shah Name - The book of Kings. An ancient mythological text that tells of the tyrant, a reflection he says of Islamic State’s contemporary brutalisation of Iranian culture.
Thomas’ Chinese mother married his mixed German/Vanuatuan heritage father in Sydney where he was born. He came to Islam through his marriage to Basma, a Sudanese, 3 months ago on the first day of Eid. Her parents live in the United Arab Emirates within the oasis of Al Ain where his wedding took place, which is the subject of his painting. He is not religious person but went with his father-in-law and the other men of the family to the Mosque where he joined their ritual of prayer. And while praying he described the unusual sensation of his deceased father visiting him to share the joy of his wedding. Perhaps suggesting that in each religion there is an undeclared universality.
Against the clear certainty of Thomas’s journey from Sydney to marry to Basma, for Bahman the key to his journey from Iran to Sydney is doubt. In Iran there is no doubt. For him doubt is the key to free thought. Inadvertently their two paintings encapsulate the polarities of a religious understanding - the idea of maintaining ancient ritual and lore while assimilating it into a modern life. What is without doubt is the sincerity of each artists experience of Islam.
Tony Twigg
