'Your belief is a belief, my existence is reality'

Connection and distance, love and separation, queerness in the face of the death penalty, tradition and modernity. Ayman Kaake's debut monograph 99 Names is simultaneously a love letter and a howl - a work that is equally about the necessity of authentic connection and the pain caused by archaic and violent criminalisation of homosexuality.

A large book with a larger heart.

Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, Ayman travelled to Australia in 2011 in pursuit of studying visual arts. A telecommunication enginnering graduate, he left his parents and eleven siblings as he set off on his artist journey.

His work delves into the dreamlike world of personal experience, emotional turmoil and the complexities that have come from starting a new life in Australia. He believes that 'sometimes imagination is better than reality'.