Characteristic of Izat Arif’s works is the visual tension that arises from the combination of high and low cultures, probing us to consider what these tensions say about where we choose to assign our praise and loyalties.

The focal material of Rumah Ku, Syurga Ku is the black-and-gold linoleum mat, printed and collaged to imitate a traditional embroidery technique known as tekat. A material commonly used to cover furnishings in low- to middle-class Malay households, the linoleum here reaches for a cultural lineage extending back to the height of the Malacca Sultanate, where once tekat—a method of stitching gold thread on dark velvet—was the reserve of royals who could afford its materials and craftsmanship.

In this monumental diptych, the desire for proximity to luxury and power (in the example of this manufactured material) is a medium to explore ideas about our Hakikat. This term for one’s fate or eternal reality is spelt in Arabic in Izat’s first composition below five pillars referencing the pillars of Islam, surmounted by symbols representing the guardians of the pillar. The second piece throws these symbols into a frenzy; palm trees are upturned, and a pillar is Romanised as is the original Arabic text. These transformations represent the reality of the subjects and their unwavering admiration of the guardians despite their state of living, presented for hanging in one’s home as a reminder of our Hakikat.