Malay-Muslim artist, Tengku Sabri Tengku Ibrahim, was born in Jerteh, Terengganu, in 1961. He first learnt the craft of traditional carpentry and woodcarving from his father, Tengku Ibrahim Wook, himself a master craftsman. Tengku Sabri was later trained in sculpture and print-making. Kumpulan Lukisan-lukisan Gelap/ A Suite of Dark Drawings is a set of 12 drawings that chronicles, in a deeply personal, intimate, revelatory fashion, the experience of a debilitating stroke, and its aftermath, that the artist suffered in 2014. Each of the drawings is accompanied by a caption, in Tengku Sabri’s own words, that provides a context for the visuals. The drawings are notable for the unflinching look at the emotional and – indeed – corporeal toil that illness takes. As Tengku Sabri notes:“I was down with a stroke attack in late 2014. The attack paralyzed my left side of the body. And it means that I couldn’t hold chisels and other tools to make sculptures. But I fought hard to continue making art. Fortunately, a young artist-friend agreed to help me making sculptures through sketches and instructions from me... and still, I insist on not to back down, and start drawing as I still can use my good right hand. That gave birth to an ink-drawing suite which I titled here as the ‘Dark Drawings.’ I here exhibited 12 drawings of the suite.It was like a visual journal, documenting the early phase of the after attack.”
