Titled as The Line Unleashed her work is expected to give a pleasant surprise to art enthusiasts.
Aasim Akhtar, the curator of the gallery, speaks very passionately about the collection. Rakhshanda, he says, does not have a destination in mind. She has a traveller’s journey ahead of her rather than a tourists’ planned itinerary. What he finds most appealing in her work is the open-endedness of her themes. Each piece is different and separate from the other; each piece is an isolated emotion, open to interpretation.
Rakhshanda has been the Principal of Hunerkada in Lahore for eight years and for the past two years has been teaching at the National College of Business Administration and Economics (NCBAE)). Alongside this she runs an art gallery at Lahore offering young and accomplished artists space to exhibit their work.
Asked why she doesn’t teach at bigger institutions, she told Express Tribune, she hated politics and art coteries. “It makes work cumbersome and affect the artist’s individuality. In order to stay away from this I avoid larger institutions. I work in college in the class room and my office is also my studio. I want my personal space to explore my art.”
Rakhshanda is not an impulsive artist but it would be right to describe her as a compulsive painter. She must paint everyday. She does not restrict herself to any specific medium; from canvas and paper she has also used discarded sheets and box materials, making use of charcoal, oil, acrylic and any material she fancies capable of expression.
Belonging to a very artistic family Atawar grew up amidst individuals producing great art works. With artists such as Khalid Iqbal being close family friends, Atawar forced herself to think out of the box and ensure that her work created an identity for herself.
About her latest collection, the artist explains, “there is no great philosophy behind it. It is about turning the flat surface into a space and then the space into an emotion. It’s a very personal expression. It takes you a while to discover your work. It is about the moment. I do not push myself. When I feel that there is nothing more I can add to painting I stop.”
With having such a spontaneous approach, curator Akhtar explains, “her work is organic and open to interpretation and inspired by the mundane. The spirals, curls, swirls remind you of the female body.”
Most of the paintings are mainly done with charcoal but the artist uses black pastel to give it depth and uses white chalk to give it a hazy smoky effect. As she is not perturbed by exhibitions and how her work might be acknowledged by the ‘art friends’ or collectors Atawar has freed herself from the norms of painting and enjoys the journey the easel, brush and paint take her on.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2010.
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