The Shade from the Sun 2 is a painting by Christopher Bassi that was recently acquired for the Rotational Collection in the Parliament House Art Collections. It depicts a lush palm tree that flourishes in Queensland and the Torres Strait.

Bassi is an artist of Meriam, Yupungathi and British decent, who uses images of plants in his work as symbols to highlight shared cross-cultural experiences and ideas of place and belonging.¹ To accompany and help viewers interpret this work, Bassi wrote the following poem:

Under the relentless sun, a palm tree stands solitary, casting its slender shadow across the sand, a silent oasis in the blaze of a day Beneath its broad leaves, a cool refuge where the air breathes softly, a whisper against the skin.

Rooted deep, it hears the ocean’s endless stories, its fronds stirring with the memory of rain. To those who seek shelter, it offers solace, a quiet space within the glare, a pause in the pulse of the sun-drenched world.

Around it, the landscape blazes, a spectrum of fire and light, yet beneath the palm, time moves differently, paced by the gentle cadence of waves. Here, the sun’s dominion is softened, its fierce journey across the sky tempered by the grace of shade.

This palm, standing vigilant by the sea, is a monument to resilience, to the enduring dance of life and earth, shadow and light. In its shade, a momentary reprieve, a breath drawn in the cycle of endless day into night, offering solace in the rhythm of the natural world.²

Christopher Bassi
Christopher Bassi (born 1990) is an artist of Meriam, Yupungathi and British decent who engages with a representational style of painting to explore issues around cultural identity, alternative genealogies and colonial legacies within Australia and the South Pacific.³ Since graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art from Queensland College of Art in 2017, Bassi has exhibited in many group exhibitions including at the Art Gallery of South Australia and at the 18th Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art: Inner Sanctum exhibition in 2024. In 2023, his work was shown in Portrait23: Identity at the National Portrait Gallery, in Canberra and Primavera 2023 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

References
1. Martin-Chew, Louise. "Inside Christopher Bassi’s Beautiful Brisbane Studio", Art Guide, accessed February 8, 2024. https://artguide.com.au/inside-christopher-bassis-beautiful-brisbane-studio/
2. Bassi, Christopher. "Artist Statement", provided by Yavuz Gallery, February 8, 2024.
3. National Portrait Gallery, "Portrait 23: Identity, Artists and Collectives, Christopher Bassi", accessed February 8, 2024. https://www.portrait.gov.au/content/portrait23-bassi/