Visual artist Farhana Afroz Bappy seeks peace through paintings as meditation and is displaying meditative forms in her solo painting exhibition titled ‘A Meditation on Peace’, which will end today at the Dwip Gallery, Lalmatia in the capital Dhaka.
Curated by Shehzad Chowdhury, a 10-day exhibition featuring Farhana’s 46 works painted with acrylic and watercolour on paper and canvas mostly during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
‘This series of works has a unique characteristic. At first glance they may appear like an ocean, then they may mimic the clouds. Their minimalistic approach makes them strangely dynamic,’ said the curator in his note about the exhibition which was inaugurated by Bengal Foundation director general Luva Nahid Choudhury on October 3.
During the pandemic, the artist created artworks against immense grief, suffering, seclusion and resilience.
With minimal lines and forms, the artist created harmony by mostly using complementary colour schemes while her abstract artworks depict landscape as maps.
Some of her abstract works resemble cosmic webs or mosaics-fractals that radiate both inward and outward, offering a view of existence from both the macro and micro perspectives.
A watercolour series on paper titled ‘Water’ comprising five paintings using repetitive small rectangles and circles created a minimalist pattern as a symbol of meditation.
An acrylic on paper painting titled ‘Beginning’ shows a landscape of a village with houses and farm fields as form as texture.
Farhana’s works show translating emotions into art that leads to her healing and connection.
The exhibition also includes an audio and video projection in collaboration with Adittya Arzu and Ehfaz Rezwan.
