21/02/2026
Have a look at our latest YouTube video 🎬✨
This is Luke and Izumi’s improvisation recorded for the Art & Music exhibition, “Echoes of Firecrackers,” held in Chatswood in January-February, as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. During the exhibition, visitors viewed Luke’s painting while listening to the music through headphones.
The exhibition photos are followed by the music video — please watch until the end 😉
The painting was originally created several years ago. Luke painted it to the sound of Izumi’s piano, using his sight cane as a brush, with his art mentor, Zac Fenn. The black-and-white composition represents the piano keys.
For this exhibition, their collaboration evolved further. Izumi improvised on the piano, exploring the contrasting modal keys of the white and black piano keys to musically express Luke’s visual work. Luke responded enthusiastically to these transitions, joining on the snare drum and engaging dynamically with the shifting harmonies and textures. Luke’s snare drum also evoked the sound of firecrackers, reflecting the theme of the exhibition.
Their performance unfolded as a moment-to-moment synchronisation — a living dialogue that united Luke’s visual art with their shared improvisational language.
Painting, Drum: Luke Abdallah
Piano: Izumi Nago
Filming: Flinders Stokes
Luke, an emerging blind artist, and Izumi, his music therapist, improvised music together in response to his painting, “Ebony and Ivory,” for the Art & Music...
