Forging ahead with misty, evocative themes
She is now studying fine arts formally at the University of Development Alternative (UDA) under the guidance of Somorjit Rai, Abdus Satter, Shajahan Ahmed Bikash and others. Now that her children have grown up, she has the time for further studies. She hopes to do her masters overseas. She always does a layout before she sits with her canvas. She works whenever she is free, after her university pursuits. She has been doing experimental work for years now, under the guidance of Aminul Islam. "This year I've done a lot of work. I went to Sharjah for the Biennale. Before that I went to Sri Lanka where 30 countries had participated. My last solo was at Belgium. There is no connection between my creative work at home and my student efforts at the university. However, I'm able to make notes from the books on galleries that I've brought from overseas earlier on," says Gulshan.
"Now we are getting a lot of pigments in Dhaka. As my husband is a member of an airline crew, I've bought my colours from USA or UK. I get a lot of encouragement and inspiration from the art work around me in the metropolis. From my experience of international art camps, I feel that Bangladeshi artists are progressing well," says Gulshan.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "However, our artists don't get the financial support that artists overseas get. Abroad, in Europe and the Middle East, BFA students get individual studios to work in. Any amount of patronage would have been welcome by our artists," she adds.
The paintings in the latest solo express her inner feelings. She brings in autumn, which transports her back to the days she sat with her father, learning about the stars and aspects of art and culture. In the season of mist she feels her colours drift, intertwine and fade away. The gray combines with other colours to give tonal variation. Similarly, when she brings in spring it reminds her of green fields and birds calling in the sky. Gulshan has taken the names of the titles from the poems of Rabindranath Tagore and Jibonananda Das. This is to give the viewer some idea about the painting through words of everyday Bangla literature. Poetry will thus penetrate abstract painting.
Holud ghasher kachchey heem projapoti depicts a dead butterfly blended in the burnt grass of the fields. The painting is evocative of the poetry of Jibonananda Das, and is in yellow, brown and black. Arsheener josna blends fog, mist and the moonlight in shades of blue and gray. Ogran ratey bhora khet hoechchey holud depicts flashes of moonlight on a dark, cold night.
The exhibition is on till October 5.