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Field Notes from the Cultural Apothecary

Kazuga Deer

Kazuga Deer

Across cultures and centuries, the deer has carried myth and meaning - a symbol of grace, passage, and the divine connection. In Kazuga Deer, the animal becomes a sacred messenger, inspired by its role in Shinto belief as a bridge between the earthly and the spiritual.

A white deer stands beneath a tree alive with birdsong, its body adorned with a colourful saddle and blanket shimmering in quiet ceremony. Above it, a celestial dome unfolds - patterned with delicate arabesques, a sky both protective and infinite.

The painting invites the viewer to journey “between here and not here,” where nature spirit meet, and every breath carries a trace of the divine.

Dusk over the Mafraj

Dusk over the Mafraj

Inspired by the Mafrāj (مفراج) - the rooftop room of Yemeni houses where families gather at day’s end - this painting lingers in the hush between sunlight and night. A richly patterned red carpet spreads across the floor, layered with others like memories woven into comfort. Slender columns frame the view outward, where cypress trees and gardens breathe beneath a sky washed in rose.

Birds drift toward the trees, and the air hums with the faint music of a Oud, an Arabian lute. in this quiet elevation above the world, Dusk over the Mafraj becomes a meditation on warmth, belonging, and the beauty of shared silence as the day folds gently into the evening.

Secret Garden

Secret Garden

Inspired by Maurice Denis’s La Rencontre (1892), this painting echoes the elegance and clear composition of Denis’s Nabis style, yet transforms its spirit into something more universal - a realm where belief becomes atmosphere, and mystery replaces doctrine.

An open door invites the viewer into a hidden garden bathed in moonlight. A crane steps gracefully across the ground, its silhouette gleaming beneath the full moon, while mysterious trees shimmer within the garden’s depths. The scene feels suspended between reverence and reverie - a sanctuary where belief dissolves into wonder, and discovery becomes its own quiet form of devotion.

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Golden Moon Garden

Golden Moon Garden

In the pale light of dawn, a golden moon lingers above an ornamental garden. A balustrade frames the scene, and upon it sits a solitary figure, poised between stillness and ascent. A tree reaches upward, its branches curling toward the fading moon as if to catch the last shimmer of night.

Below, an intricate carpet unfolds like a prayer - its patterns echoing the quiet rhythm of leaves and air. Around it, trees encircle the space in gentle harmony.

Golden Moon Garden draws inspiration from Rumi’s words: “Somewhere beyond right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there.” It is a vision of that garden - where the light softens, the mind falls silent, and the soul remembers its home.