Articulation of freedom

Paintings by Nasima Khanam Queenie.

Nasima Khanam Queenie has a fascination for compositions and varied forms (particularly triangular and oval). Her paintings can be categorised according to the use of varied familiar and unfamiliar forms as well as compositions. She believes that we are all part of nature, but some of us observe nature with intense passion. Lighting is a prominent feature in her paintings and the artist generally prefers luminous and mystifying settings where human figures are completely missing.
“Nature with its splendour mesmerises me. The picturesque nature of Bangladesh always inspires me. Different colours, shapes, forms and smells of different seasons fascinate me,” said the painter.
The painter began her career as a naturist, depicting serenity in the environment with its rich abundance of colours, light and shades. As themes, she prefers seasonal changes, landscapes, lakes, cloudy sky, mysterious fog, joyful rainbow, blooming mustard fields, lush paddy fields in autumn, rainy days and seashores.
Queenie's teachers were Rafiqun Nabi, Mahmudul Haque, Shahid Kabir and Mahbubul Amin. Among the Western master painters, Rembrandt's light and Antoni Tàpies' lines, shade inspire the artist.
The painter is comfortable working with any media -- be it oil, acrylic or watercolour. “With my compositions I'm saying something. The colours and forms are meant to communicate. Artists sometimes paint according to their own desires and requirements, without much concern for the viewers,” says Queenie.
Queenie's complex compositions, textural strength, thickness of colours and variation are the main ingredients in her works. Through her paintings, she seeks to express the message that she is becoming more innovative, using her space to relate with her colours and forms. A number of her paintings look neat and tranquil as the canvas typically displays colours and their various layers. The colours involved are azure, red, black, white, yellow and emerald green.
Over the years, Queenie has produced many paintings in different mediums, where she has primarily depicted varied abstract images. She likes to paint semi-realistic images where a significant aspect of nature has been focused on. She has refined her style and now feels comfortable in adopting pure abstraction. In some of her works she has sought to incorporate various symbols and signs of her expressions -- denoting realism, semi-realism, abstraction, expressionism and neo-expressionism. She merges many traits and the output is unconventional.
She has exhibited her works extensively -- in Russia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, USA, Japan and India. Her skills have been recognised with several awards.
Queenie's solo exhibition will be held next month at Dhaka Art Centre.