Azure skies, emerald leaves, fuchsia flowers… every shade in artist Badrunissa Irfan’s canvas ought to spark hope and joy. Her latest series of paintings, consisting of acrylic on canvas pieces, is aptly titled Daring to Dream.
The artist is a force of nature, with a heart more young and a smile more radiant than people half her age. And this is what transcends into her artworks featured in the series. Be it in her subjects — which frequently revolves around a natural escapade like a mountain stream with pristine white swans swimming by or a bandit raging through dusty mountain roads on a wild horse — or in her use of bright colours like light green and ocean blue in bold strokes.
The inspiration behind this, as the artist puts it, comes from her deep faith in God and the idea emphasised in the Quran that nature reflects the existence of God. “I find inspiration in the beauty that the Almighty has created. I love nature, I feel strangely connected with it,” she says. She tells us the reason why she prefers acrylic on canvas despite drawing mostly on water colours most of her life, “The brilliance of acrylic colours is unparalleled. They are so bright – I love bright colours, I hate anything grim. I want my colours to exude the optimism that I have towards life.”
Birds, deer, squirrels, swans… wild animals in their natural habitats seem to be the most recurring motif in Badrunissa’s works. Horses, along with bandits and pirates, symbolising heroism and a reckless free spirit also find expression in the artworks of this series. “Ever since I was five years old, my grandfather used to take us to these art competitions every year. He always encouraged my interest in the arts. We used to go to the glasshouse in Lalbagh and paint what we saw. Be it painting or cooking, exploring art in every form was our pastime,” says the artist, telling us how her passion of exploring nature through art was planted during her childhood.
What stands out in this series are pieces like — A Perfect Serenade, Graceful In Green, Less of a Stranger, No Greater Love — birds in pairs or flocks sitting on blooming branches against sunrise skies. Where do these creations stem from?
12 years ago, Badrunissa had a near-death experience, which resulted in her being in coma for almost a month. When she recovered, like a true artist, she picked up her paintbrush to celebrate her newfound gratitude for life. “That is precisely the time when I started to realise that the gift of life is something that we take for granted. Once you go through an experience such as that, you start realising the actual value of our existence,” she concludes.
Entry free. 11 am to 8 pm. Ongoing September 3. At Sublime Galleria, UB City.
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