With a distinguished fervor in his voice, he talks about the innumerable hours that he is studio-bound in his Los Angeles property until the faint tinges of inspiration hit, and awaken him to new epiphanies and artistic pinnacles. And there, in his studio and the inner corridors of his mind, is where he can have a fighting chance at finding a befitting concept.

“If I’m going to have something, I would like to get a little more complex within my subject,” he says. “At the same time, it might not grasp at me right away. I would have to spend hours and nights just being there, sitting right there looking at the canvas, and just thinking through the whole process of how I want to construct and compose this thing that is just perfect for me.”

One of his 2012 pieces, The Quiet White is a sentimental expression of a prominent event in his life: the birth of his son in December 2011. He chalks up the piece to having a singular purpose; he calls it “a perfect painting with my son being born.” The peaceful white color is accentuated with shading, along with faint and pronounced lines drawn in irregular patterns. In addition, there are small color shades and splashes that add a bit of dramatic flair, but feel subtle, decorating the white background, instead of overpowering it. By Amin’s admission of the piece’s purpose, it is apparent that a gesture is made that can only be demonstrated in this particular way, which captures the personal commencement. “It was the relationship of him being introduced to this world,” he confesses. To express that emotion, he chose to relay on his familiarity with the chief mediums of oil and charcoal, which he uses frequently in his work.

The dynamic painter and drawer gets energized about working with those materials because the former can flow in any direction and angles, and the latter aids in shaping angles with sharp lines and depth; both gratifyingly merge for a perfectly blended result for Amin. He is able to create something new to marvel over with each painting as a result of using his perceptiveness and the chosen mediums, developing “confidence” with a particular body of work. At that comfortable point, the work is ready for public display. “I think in a way you will create a new body of work, and you know those new paintings will definitely create an impact,” he comments. “You know you have something there.”

There is a level of expectation for making great work to showcase at a solo exhibition, according to Amin. Flying all by your lonesome automatically means that all eyes are on you, but despite that pressure, artists have a substantial, solitary control. It is unlike the feeling evoked by a group show, where joining with a cohort of artists to showcase your work creates a sharing of the spotlight, and leads to a dialogue of multiple subjects, and connections between the creators. The differences between the two types are not mind blowing by any means, and should not stop an artist from trying their hand at both scenarios, which Amin feels are beneficial. Though the bulk of his solo shows have been at Jett Gallery in San Diego (the living birthplace of his abstract career), he cannot help but lightheartedly speak about his first honor once he got to Los Angeles, California nearly two years ago. The esteemed Los Angeles Art Show was gracious enough to invite Amin into their ranks, and that feeling was quite an unexpected, yet memorable one. “I was so stoked about it because I was like ‘wow’; I had just moved to L.A., and all of a sudden, they reached out to us.” A whole new rush engulfed him like flames, for he found himself in unexplored territory that could hold the weight of his progressive art. He took the time to discover just the right studio space that could propel his creative flair, and be a base for him to gain momentum in an unfamiliar, vivaciously thriving art scene, which is both accommodating to older, established artists and their younger revolutionary counterparts.

“[Los Angeles] is a meeting point. I would like to think internationally for the world of artists, whether a painter or sculptor, they always find themselves in L.A.,” he says. There are influential didactic spaces and studios here according to Amin, which are a part of a grandiose design: a circulatory merry go round of great works that make their way around the City of Lost Angels. He immerses himself into that systematic environment, using his consistent and hard work ethic to produce attention-grabbing works, whilst striving for further growth as he glides from one project to the next. Finding infinite inspiration in the surrounding world of prolific, burgeoning artists (he has quite a few favorites), he feels comfortable in this artistic paradise (and has a reaching presence due to his celebrated exposure in other art meccas like New York, where he was featured in the N.Y. Independent Film and Art Festival in September 2008, and in London and France, where in 2010, he was featured in the Open Art Code exhibitions, celebrating a group of renowned artists with distinct and differing technical styles and artistic formations).

Yet, what really sparked his career was the 11 years of experimentation that took place while living in San Diego, his penultimate domicile before Los Angeles. A metamorphosis of sorts took place in that urban metropolis boosting a smaller, hidden art scene located in California’s Bay area. “I felt more disciplined, more organized when I was able to become that solid painter in San Diego,” he says. When he arrived there, he had no formal training and actually never wanted it; he relied on becoming a self-taught visionary by listening to the innate desire and ability within himself. He would hone that craft by painting the material running through his mind in his garage, displaying it only to the eyes and opinions of his friends (he chuckles infectiously over the phone about the doting praise of those early admirers). It was only by chance that he found a public, profitable place to display his work.

“I was walking around the parking lot of where this [Metropolis] furniture store was located in California,” he says.

“I walked in, and noticed that they had quite a few paintings on the wall. I remember talking to one of the salespeople, asking questions about if they represented artists, and what were the reasons for the artwork. And they just said [that] they find artists to bring work in there, but, long story short, he asked what I do. I kind of flipped it and said, ‘I’m an artist.’ Then, they said [that] maybe I should talk to the buyer, the owner. I met with her, set up an appointment and she was like, ‘bring me three paintings.’ In two weeks, they called me and said, ‘we sold your work.’ I couldn’t believe it, so that really started something fresh in my head that this is the direction that I’m going to go.”

(Article continued on next page)