Kawnine Shourov: portrait of an artist

I just let my water colours flow on the canvasses of their own accord. As I watch the flow, it gives my paintings a life and drives away all my loneliness,' says Kawnine Shourov. A master's student of dramatics from Jahangirnagar University, Kawnine recently conducted a solo exhibition, titled 'A life in a colour zone', from February 29 to March 5. The exhibition at the central auditorium, inaugurated by prominent artist Rafiqun Nabi, drew a big crowd of teachers and students of the university.

The central themes of Kawnine's work are tales of life, the characteristics of human beings, human evolution and the close relationship between human beings and nature. The exhibition hosted 42 works of art. Using oils, acrylic, pencils, watercolours and pastels, he captures the inner thought processes of a mind that has experienced the feelings of sorrow and pain.

Among Kawnine's remarkable works on display were 'Restless' where we see a person coping with the struggles of everyday existence. He uses red, black, yellow, green and white water colours to depict this painful state of mind. In 'Clouds upon Cloud' he delves into the mindset of human beings. The huge presence of black represents a common state of mind, while red, green and yellow and a white background depict human thought with a sense of hesitation. This work also reveals the close nexus between human beings and nature.

Remarkably, Kawnine is a self-taught artist whose talent has been widely praised. Among his giant-sized works which have won plaudits, are those on the language movement, human evolution, colour in life and life cycles. In another 32 feet long painting, based on the language movement, he has used red, white, yellow and other colours to depict Bangladesh's glorious history of 1952. Says Kawnine: ' I wanted to portray the debacle in our ideology and philosophy after 1952 and 1971, a phenomenon that has continued.'

'Life Cycle', is split in three parts including childhood, youth and womanhood. This canvas is in 8 feet, 12 feet and 12 feet respectively and delineates the intimate workings of a mind from childhood to youth. The inspiration for this work, says Kawnine, was the street children, men and women whom he came across.

A 30 feet long canvas traces the evolution of man from the cave age onwards. The yellow, red and black colours present the struggle of life.

Clearly Kawnine is an artist with talent. Having made his mark, he hopes that education on art will be included in the curriculum of Jahangirnagar University.