Profile
Najma : A dynamic painter of semi-abstracts
Fayza Haq
Najma Akhter, who had her recent solo at Shilpangan, did drawings and paintings as a child, as she belonged to a family where music, drawing and other cultural activities were the run of the mill incidents. So rapt was she in her drawing as a child of three, that she still bears burn marks though that early episode. " I can best express myself in painting, specially in semi-abstracts, in mixed-media. Through my works I express myself. My slant is towards the West, although I pick my subjects around me, whether it be nostalgic or an optimistic forward looking experiment."At the outset she worked in the style of Abanindra Nath in water-colour. She graduated to the Oriental style. Feeling stultified there, she varied her form, textures and colours. Her experimental work began in 2003. Enjoying that experience she continued in that vein. She says she paints, at the outset for her own satisfaction, but she is not impervious to the taste of the buyers and connoisseurs. However, she says," I'll not stop painting even if no one likes my work. In my earlier joint exhibits, I felt I'd become a viewer myself." Talking about whether the viewer will comprehend her work, she says," Painting is like music. Often we don't quite comprehend lyrics but the tune might persuade us to listen to the song repeatedly. If the viewer likes the painting he will like to see more." She believes that her colours draw the gallery goers. Asked to speak about her style and theme, she says that she works on paper with acrylic, bringing in her childhood memories of the countryside, which she mixes and mingles with the forms that she sees around her today in the metropolis. Sometimes, she says that the form overlaps the colours, when the colour takes precedence. "The colour is the life of the painting, I believe. Earthy colours, such as saffron, midnight blue with variations of that hue. The dramatic and dynamic black cannot be overlooked. " Her outlook is a sunny one, although is not an easy one, combining teaching with freelance painting, along with home-making. Today her university-going son is her Rock of Gibralter, inspiring and egging her on. As a child, her father Abdul Jabbar, a Freedom Fighter and a World War 11 veteran -- was the fountainhead of her motivation. As a student she had Abdus Sattar, Hashem Khan, Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, Farida Zaman and Rafiqun Nabi who guided her and coaxed her on to the success that she is today. She paints in her home in a tiny room, set apart as her studio. She works as the mood takes her, especially when there's nobody at home. She sets out her sheets and paints ad lib. She works on various sheets, the basic forms being in her mind from the beginning.
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Artwork by Najma Akhter |
