Immersion in pure abstraction
Najma Akhter embarked on her voyage from Oriental to abstract art around the beginning of the current century. As a student of the Oriental Department, Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, she was immersed in portraying human relationships and nature. Eventually the painter realised that the rigours of Oriental art were not suitable for her modernistic sensibilities. She then entered into in a new orbit of lines, colours, forms and texture when she found a dominant facet in art, which is distinctive, imaginative and cerebral. To art lovers, her works appear as pieces of cloud where she cultivates her pain, yearning, happiness and desire.
Najma's current solo exhibition titled “Fragments of the Unknown” is now on at Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhanmondi. Her present approach can be considered as pure abstract expressionism. The painter has been inspired by nature and its mysterious aspects. She comprehends nature and its varied elements appear to her in a vibrant way. Her works appear as pieces of land where she cultivates her mind's perception and philosophical experience. Her works consist of strong formal elements, such as colour, shape, balance, depth, composition, and scale.
Najma is an ardent painter whose prime aim is to express her inner world through art. Her soul is always in search of a space where an assorted of vital colours come together to represent suffering and ecstasy. Her space is filled up sometimes with bright and, at other times paradoxically, subdued colours. Her early palette consists of quiet colours. However, her colours begin to darken dramatically in recent years. Increasingly, the painter used crimson, maroon, brown, emerald green and black. Also, her motifs change from an open to a closed form. Because her paintings do not have any given subject matter, this change of colour and form is vital.
One could be easily drawn to Najma's works, as the mood is relaxed and uncluttered. It is obvious that the painter has experimented with layers of colours and tonality. She seems to be quite conscious about the use of space in her paintings.
At present, the painter likes to work in acrylic, in which she finds a taste of serenity. The medium helps her work promptly and she can meticulously shape her forms and compositions. Her work is elucidated by a powerful engagement with object and space, and with bold and sweeping brushstrokes. Najma is comfortable working on any size of canvas according to the painting's theme and composition.
Considering the works at the current exhibition, it is apparent that the painter likes to play with texture. She feels that it has happened unintentionally. Her works look mature. Another aspect of Najma's work is her demonstration of the aesthetic elements. It has been comprehended that Najma has natured with texture and illusion for surface effects. Space has been created on the canvas although some of the colours have been applied flat. Her work has a soothing effect and she tries to avoid extraneous objects.
Najma's abstraction is purely colour and form oriented. Most motifs of her paintings have been taken from nature and the deep ocean is a recurring theme in her works in which she finds ever-changing mysterious chapters.
The exhibition ends on March 10.
Comments