Canvasses and colours : ‘Art has moved beyond regions and techniques’

Degree show features work of 11 students from the painting department.

LAHORE:

National College of Arts (NCA) Fine Arts Department Head Quddus Mirza said on Sunday that constant innovation was required to survive in the world of art.

He was speaking at a degree show featuring the work of 11 students from the painting department of the college’s Fine Arts Department. “One has to keep on changing and improving to survive in the world of art. A field that has moved beyond regions, genres and techniques,” Mirza said.  He said the enthusiastic response of visitors had made the exercise a learning experience and a matter of joy and satisfaction. Fatima Batool, one of the artists, said her display had been titled Sketchbook Series. She said this was because she made copious sketches on canvasses and photographed a lot. Batool said her work depicted the present frame of mind. She said she always strived to put whatever came across her mind to canvas. Batool said this could be seen in her work being displayed. “Each and every canvas displayed here narrates a different story,” she said. Batool said one of her larger pieces portrayed preconceived notions. “My work engages the viewer. It does not let their eye settle on a single thing,” she said.



Farhat Ali, another artist, said his work explored the two-dimensional nature of paintings. “My work happens to be very simplified most of the time,” he said. Ali said he strived to paint objects and situations that people tended to overlook in their daily lives. He said the title of a work was pivotal. “The title of a work creates an impression on the mind of the viewer. This makes them analyse the work individually,” Ali said.



Aleena Mazhar, another artist, said three of her paintings on display had been made with projections. Mazhar said she had tried to portray the presence and absence of an object in her work. She said this was determined by light and darkness. Mazhar said her work could be seen as a sequence. She said she wanted to show motion in her paintings. “I decided to work with projections in some of my paintings to achieve the desired result,” Mazhar said.

Rabia Ehsan, another artist, said her work was a commentary on the cultural and identity crises the nation was going through. She said Khushamdeed, one of her works, represented the “false façade of our culture.” “We are Pakistanis and we have our own culture. This does not mean that we discount the fact that we have assimilated influences from everywhere else,” Ehsan said.  She said Nuzerbund, another of her works, portrayed the tendency among people to put on a false front to please others.



Ali Ahmed Talpur, another artist, displayed five pieces including a video installation, an acrylic sheet locker, milk containers made with hay, a trunk and three digital prints. He said he had used all kinds of mediums for his thesis. “My work is primarily premised on the concepts of privacy and insecurity,” Ali said. He said he had experimented a lot in his work. “One will see a lot of variety in it,” Ali said. “Studying at the NCA was a great experience as I got to learn a lot,” he said. He said he wanted to continue experimenting in the future and move to Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2015.