ARIF Rafhan is well-known for his passion for comic illustration and batik drawings but he took it up a notch with his new venture, presenting his artwork in a way that he has never done it before – through unique, magical and exciting immersive digital art.
Titled Hanya Batik, Arif brings us on a beautiful 12-minute journey about Malaysia with stunning illustrations on the country, combined with batik motifs, patterns and designs, in splashes of vibrant colours, creating a truly immersive experience that can be enjoyed by all age groups.
Past, present and future
For the first time, Arif showcases traditional batik art with intricate drawings presented in contemporary digital storytelling.
The fascinating digital display, complemented with music and background narration, is being shown at Rexperience (RXP.KL) in RexKL, which coincides with Merdeka month.
Arif, whose batik Star Wars series went viral on the internet last year, told theSun that his immersive digital art experience is about Malaysia’s past, present and future. The display tells the story of origins of Malaysia, encompassing the historical Malacca Sultanate, diverse ethnic cultures and traditional celebrations.
Also included are the many heroes who have transformed the nation, with the art charting the progress, historical milestones and urban landscape of this fair land as well as highlighting the hopes and dreams for the future.
Among these vibrant images, the iconic image of Malaysia’s first prime minister and the Father of Independence Tunku Abdul Rahman raising his fist to declare Merdeka is also included in the show.
Origins in comic art
Arif, who started as a comic artist and has illustrated book covers, movie posters, sculptures and murals, revealed he has a love for cultural art and design such as batik, songket, wau and wayang kulit.
“Sometimes, I include pop culture elements into the batik or tell the story of Malaysia in batik format,” said Arif.
Speaking about his niche art, Arif said: “I like intricate art such as the Australian aboriginal art.
“My comics (drawings) also have intricate lines. Intricate art is worthy of spending or investing time in. Even if people do not appreciate it as much, when it is completed, the artist will feel satisfied.”
He does not feel threatened by artificial intelligence and hopes people will appreciate the intricate illustration or art that has a soul with a story
or message.
As for the message behind Hanya Batik, Arif simply replied: “Wholesomeness.
“We live in Malaysia, a multi-cultural country. What better way than to move forward and embrace each other, celebrate each other’s differences and be better Malaysians?”
Exploring immersive art
The chance to create immersive digital art came about two months ago, when Ariff met RXP.KL CEO and creative director Sebastien Jurkowski.
Jurkowski saw Ariff’s work on Instagram and saw him sharing watermelon batik for free. Instantly, Jurkowski approached Arif about working together.
Hanya Batik is a part of the Twilight show, which also displays French digital artist Fabien Bouchard art in a show titled Geometry of Emotions
with Mathieu Pernaud. The Twilight show also features Colas Fiszman and Laurent Delforge in a piece called Escape.
Speaking about the immersive art, Jurkowski said RexKL (which is located at the heart of Kuala Lumpur) is a tourist spot and most visitors want to immerse themselves in the culture when they visit Malaysia.
“This is an opportunity to tell them about Malaysia. Tourists will be happy because they get to learn a piece of history in this beautiful batik art and at the same time, Malaysians can relate as well.
“I have never seen batik so beautiful (like this),” added Jurkowski.
