Prior to beginning on a work like "Shadows in Equilibrium," one of his typically gigantic and explosively colorful abstract paintings, Bassmi Ibrahim meditates, emptying his mind of the world's distractions to arrive at a state of appreciation of the pure "isness" of life. The Egyptian-American, Florida-based artist draws this idea from a quotation by mystic teacher Alan Watts: "All there is, is the isness of things." Ibrahim has interpreted the isness of creation to be a spiritual power that pervades everything, especially his work and the way he approaches it.
Salt Creek Artworks presents Ibrahim's latest collection of meditative abstract paintings, and some works from his "Isness" series, in Releasing the Inner Child. Apparently, because these paintings are drawn from the deep mind, they are imbued with the mind's emanations and pulse off canvas with a hypnotizing effect.
Releasing the Inner Child, April 14-May 5, Salt Creek Artworks, 1600 Fourth St. S., St. Petersburg, 727-894-2653.
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2006.
