Image size: 86.8 x 86.7 cm
Jaafar Latiff was an abstract painter distinguished for his inventive approach in the batik medium. In 1964, in his late 20s, he enrolled in Teachers Training College and specialized in pottery. While undergoing training, Jaafar was tasked to teach batik painting in vocational school thus initiating his lifelong interest in the medium. The painting is completed in a resist dyeing method—fabric dye on cotton—with sections of the canvas painted in acrylic. Unsigned and undated, the composition suggests a strong affinity with the artist’s Wandering series which he debuted at his first solo exhibition, Jaafar Latiff: Acrylic—Batik Paintings, held at Alpha Gallery in July 1976. The series is unequivocally abstract, and the expressionistic organic forms show off his dexterity in the medium. Wandering series continued to be painted up until the early 1980s. The title of this series hints at Jaafar’s journey towards artistic awakening and his departure from his family and kampong. The act of painting over the fabric dye with acrylic paint on his canvases became significantly present in his later works in 1990s.
