Abdul-Rahman Abdullah is a West Australian artist working primarily in sculpture, installation and drawing. Abdullah's practice explores definitions and experiences of cultural identity, focusing on memory, narrative and the domestic environment to access esoteric social histories within an urban Australian environment.
Read MoreHis work emerges from his Muslim heritage that is both seventh-generation Australian and Malay. Within these cultural parameters he explores a personal engagement with the migrant experience of his mother, the ongoing implications of his Australian father’s early conversion to Islam and "the mutable understanding of childhood values in the present tense." Abdullah's sculptural works often feature figures, animals and home furnishings which display his trademark meticulous and refined technical skills. He uses materials such as cast resin, timber and acrylic, augmented by found domestic objects including carpets, chandeliers and ceiling roses.
Attending the Victorian College of the Arts then Curtin University, Abdul-Rahman Abdullah graduated from art school in 2012. In 2013 he was received an Artstart grant from the Australia Council, a development grant from the Department of Culture and the Arts and was selected for the Artsource Emerging Artists Program. Abdullah was a finalist in the 62nd Blake Prize, Substation Contemporary Art Prize, Fishers Ghost Art Prize and was the West Australian recipient of the Qantas Foundation Encouragement of Australian Contemporary Art Award. In 2014 he was awarded an Art and Australia / Credit Suisse Private Banking Contemporary Art Award and selected as a finalist in the Bankwest Art Prize, he is currently undertaking a Jump Mentorship with Alex Seton.
