More than mere decoration
Nisar Hossain of the Department of Fine Arts, Dhaka, says, " Her paintings are more than mere pictures hung on the wall. These paintings do not remain within the sphere of colour, line and beauty; they stretch themselves beyond these elements only to become reflection of life itself. I would like to label her paintings both as 'pictures drawn' and 'pictures written'. Her works cannot be fully appreciated if we elude one of the characteristics."
Shulekha's strong lines present forms, control the picture structure and introduce light hearted elements along the serious thoughts that the images bear. She deals both with the reality and the absurd. She combines items from everyday life to make something new. Although she uses symbols, her images are not difficult to comprehend despite the element of intrigue spun into them. There is no excessive imagery. There is patience, labour and deep thought that have gone into the composition of each picture. Everyday items from the known world have gone into completing her satire and fantasy.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Shulekha goes on to mainly portray women's place in society. In Supper in the 21st century, in one half she has the section for women symbolised by the safety-pins. The other rectangle has James clips to represent men. "What I want to show is that the world is too eager to show a woman's faults. In the centre is a representation of a meeting, in imitation of the Renaissance painting The Last Supper. With the headless forms of the seated participants of the meeting, I want to drive home the point that many of our so-called discussions are ineffective and useless, and are there only for show. The faces are nonexistent because we don't know who the evil 'godfathers' are. In Balance the artist shows that the position of women in our society is not really at par with that of the men.
Shulekha has participated in more than 10 major exhibitions. These include one for "Shako" and "Britto", along with the 10th Asian Art Biennale and the International Women's Day, March 2000. She has taken part in eight workshops including the "Khoj" workshop at Mumbai in 2005, and the collage workshop directed by Monirul Islam in 2004.