Behind the Seen

In one basic way of describing the cosmos, ‘Âlam al-Shahâda عالم الشهادة, the World of Seeing or “visible world”, is contrasted with ‘Âlam al-Ghayb عالم الغيب, the World of Mystery or “invisible world”. In modern language they are sometimes described as the Conscious and the Unconscious. We are familiar with the former; it is forever filling our senses, concealing from us a subtler and wider reality that we only taste when we sleep.

In this piece inspired by a dream, the “visible world” is spelled out in the foreground mandala, which is torn to reveal a whole other world behind it, much like a painted theater background that collapses to reveal the reality behind it. This impression is reinforced by the contrasting treatment of the two planes. In the foreground I deliberately dulled the blue and used golden gouache for the dots, instead of the usual, much more gold-like metal leaf. The background on the other hand, unstructured and boundless, is painted over aluminium which shines through the watercololour, providing a mysterious depth. The myriad stars are painted in shell gold 23.5ct and shell palladium, then burnished, in order to truly sparkle.

Creation process

The background painted on aluminium

Working out the mask using temporary newsprint

Stars in shell palladium

More stars in shell gold

The foreground is pencilled, then torn up

Mixing a slightly dull blue

Adding the white lines

Assembly

Filling up with stars

Final step: burnishing all the shell palladium and gold so they sparkle.