TORSO, 1981
Enamel on board. 10½ x 9¾in. (26.7 x 25.3cm.)
Signed with the monogram ’81
Inscribed on the reverse with the artist’s name, the title of the work and the year. With the Paul label.
Provenance
National Trust bequest.
This work deals with the lataif-e-sitta, the six subtleties, recognised by Sufis. They designate psychospiritual ‘organs’, said to be part of the self, in the way that organs are part of the physical body.
Sufic development involves the awakening, in a given order, of these dormant spititual centres. The lataif are Qalb (yellow: mind); Ruh (red: spirit); Sirr (white: consciousness); Khafi (black: intuition) and Ikhfa (green: deep perception).
The angular connecting arrow indicates the order of awakening.
Preliminary sketches are at TGA 929/5/2/2.