01 / WORK ARCHIVE
About the Work
Beginning with sound, taking shape on canvas.
- Work No.
- GZ-001
- Curatorial Title
- Purple Buffalo: Across the Plains
- Original Title
- Plains of the Purple Buffalo
- Work Type
- Signed art print (diptych)
- Associated Band
- *shels
- Associated Album
- Plains of the Purple Buffalo (2011)
- Visual Artist
- Jimp (jimpwasere)
- Publisher
- Shelsmusic
- Print Format
- Canvas print
- Substrate
- Artist canvas
- Panel Size
- 60 × 30 cm each; two panels
- Combined Size
- 60 × 60 cm
- Framed Size
- Approx. 60.5 × 60.5 cm
- Signature
- Hand-signed by *shels founder and principal member Mehdi Safa
- Edition
- Signed edition
02 / PAIRED LISTENING
Giving Sound
to the Plains
Plains of the Purple Buffalo was released by *shels in 2011. Its post-rock spaciousness and dense waves of sound give this purple plain an audible sense of scale.
The recommended sequence joins the two title tracks, Part 1 and Part 2. In relation to this diptych, they feel like two stages of looking—first a pause, then a deeper descent—carrying the eye between the migrating herd and the inverted dream below.
Start the music, then return and let the image unfold slowly.
Links open in a new page and may require the NetEase Cloud Music app. You can also visit the album page ↗.
03 / INTERPRETATION
Above the Plains,
Beneath the Dream
A reading that moves from the full composition into its details.
Migration occupies the upper half of the image; the dream hangs upside down beneath the plain. Joined one above the other, the two canvases give a journey towards the horizon a second direction—down into the inner world.
01 / 04
One Image,
Two Worlds
The seam is more than a framing detail; it becomes the clearest boundary in the visual narrative. Above it, buffalo, birds and terrain retain a legible direction. Beyond it, bodies, eyes and plant-like lines lose their stable relationship to gravity.
Physical migration and inner vision are placed side by side. The gaze is first drawn towards the distance, then pulled back into consciousness by the inverted world below.
02 / 04
The Direction
of Migration
Birds, buffalo and undulating lines all move towards the left. The repeated bodies do not create the speed of a stampede; instead they establish a slow, sustained advance, like melodies and walls of sound accumulating across the album. The journey does not hurry towards arrival. Movement itself is its subject.
03 / 04
The Dream
Beneath the Plains
The lower panel refuses a single viewing direction. Inverted bodies are surrounded by serpentine lines, knotted motifs and radiating eyes; recognisable forms keep slipping into symbols. They resemble fragments left by a dream—connected, but impossible to restore to one definitive story.
As the gaze lingers, the relationship between the panels begins to shift. The plain is no longer simply the ground; it becomes a thin shell stretched over the dream beneath it.
04 / 04
Traces on
the Reverse
The front belongs to Jimp's purple world; the reverse carries Mehdi Safa's signature and hand-drawn suns. Usually hidden from view, these marks give the work a more intimate trace of exchange, physically joining the band, its music and the canvases.
04 / FRAMING DESIGN
A Border
for the Migration
Purple Buffalo: Across the Plains
The image is already dense with buffalo, birds, stars and inverted bodies. The framing therefore adds no overt decoration. Instead, a grey-brown perimeter lets the lines settle quietly at the edge of the picture.
01
Warm as Wood
It reads visually as solid timber, but is built from metal with a wood-grain surface. The grain softens the coldness of metal, while the inner structure keeps the work slender and secure.
The grey-brown tone does not simply repeat the purple. It is closer to a mixture of bare branches, black lines and distant earth—as though the frame had grown naturally from the edge of the plain.
02
Let the Image
Come First
High-transparency glass recedes from view, preserving the pale purples, warm whites and black lines. A double-layer structure holds the two heavyweight canvases securely while keeping their actual seam intact.
It belongs to the frame,
and to the place where two worlds meet.
03
Order on
the Reverse
Turn the work over and a moisture-resistant black velvet backing meets silver hardware in a quieter order. These elements do not enter the normal act of viewing, yet they keep the piece complete once it leaves the wall.
The front carries migration and dream; the reverse supports them in silence.
Framing materials
Wood-grain metal frame
High-transparency glass
Double-layer holding structure
Moisture-resistant black velvet backing
05 / COLLECT
Let the Journey
Continue at Home
The canvases are in stock; framing is completed after the acquisition is confirmed.
AvailabilityPrints in stock
Framing by pre-order
Price¥2,000
- Included
- Signed *shels diptych and complete framingThe price includes both canvases and the framing shown on this page. The work is delivered as one complete piece and is not sold separately.
- Delivery
- In-store collection / SF Express
- Shipping
- In-store collection has no additional delivery charge. Packaging, shipping and transport protection costs are paid by the buyer and confirmed before purchase.
06 / CONTACT
Enquiries and conversation are welcome.
For availability, reservations and delivery,
or to talk about posters, music and framing, please connect with us on WeChat.
