Auric Vibrance: Where colour meets fantasy

‘Auric Vibrance’ is artist Nipa’s outward expression of the inner colours of her mind. Photos: Rajib Dhar

The first thing that might catch anyone's attention at Maksuda Iqbal Nipa's 10th solo art exhibition 'Auric Vibrance: The Cauldron of Passion' at Gulshan's Edge Gallery, is a quote on the wall from Monet that reads, "Colour is my daylong obsession, joy and torment." 

Though he needs no introduction, French-painter Claude Monet is the name behind the art movement Impressionism. Impressionism is a style of painting from mid-to-late 19th century France, characterised by small, visible brushstrokes that offer the bare impression of form, unblended colour and an emphasis on the accurate depiction of natural light.

If you turn towards the artworks, inside the lofty halls of the gallery, many of the artworks feel at home. But inside a home, some of them would look like entire walls that would collapse on someone if they went too close. 'Fuming Flames', a roughly 10x7 painting Nipa finished earlier this year, felt like it was – quite literally – up in flames. 

All the crimson, brick, vermillion, scarlet, wine and ruby red twirling and dancing on that enormous canvas breathed life and motion into that inanimate painting. 

"My paintings have that quality of feeling like they are constantly in motion, something you'd see in Van Gogh's style," Nipa exclaimed.

But if they share semblance with Vincent Van Gogh's Fauvist style of art, why did we begin Nipa's story with Monet's reference? It's because of the traces of both Monet and Van Gogh in them.

"I don't see any kind of 'ism' in my own style of painting. I did my M.Ed in Fine Art from Aichi University of Education in Japan and the campus was built around nature. The changing colours of seasons could always be felt there, like I could almost touch them," she started on what initiated her abstract style.

The maple leaf, sakura (cherry blossom) and the myriad of colours Japan is known for deeply influenced her. Nipa borrowed those colours from nature and put them on canvas. 

"Experimenting expansively with oil paint on grand canvases, I underwent a transformative journey from the shackles of oppression to an emancipated state, evolving towards a point of absolute formlessness," she said. 

The thing with abstract art is that it is open to any number of interpretations. We couldn't really get the artist to explain what any of her artwork meant. Each stroke, form, turn, bump, and colour would mean something entirely different to us, regardless of the explanation. 

"I began with realist paintings but when I saw those colours, I wanted to paint with them," Nipa added.

Nipa held her first solo exhibition in Japan as early as 2002, at Gallery APA in Nagoya. Since then she has been holding solo and group shows between regular intervals in Bangladesh, Canada, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and of course Japan. The seasoned artist has been travelling with her art for a long time.

"Colours make us happy. The simplicity of it is all that matters. Japanese culture preaches simplicity in everything they do. That effect permeated through me as well. Art is meditation and the simpler you can do it, the better it feels,"  Nipa said.

She spends hours inside her studio, sometimes 10 hours in a row but the love for art keeps her going. 

"Some of the bigger works remained incomplete before this exhibition. I took pains to complete them but I lost myself in the experience of it so deeply that I couldn't leave any piece undone," Nipa said.     

TBS Picks

Core of the Sublime Awakening | Oil on canvas

Contrasting colours here are blending into one another and a light is coming from the centre here. These feelings come from inner thoughts and my emotional core. 

Euphoria in Surge | Oil on canvas

This has been lying in my studio for three-four years before completion. It began with purple. Later, with time, as my observations also changed, so did the painting. It looks different at every angle. On one side the tone is strong, on the other side, the yellow tone softens, like an optical illusion. 

A Symphony of Scratches | Oil on canvas

I put this piece on hold, while I waited for it to dry. I didn't know what to do with it and was stuck. Then one day a friend visited my studio and said the raw scratches on it are looking just fine. It felt freeing, like leaving something in its natural state is the freedom we look for.