An exhibition of abstract images of urban landscapes entitled “Bands of Reflections” by Indian artist VINITA KARIM who resides in Metro Manila for the past five years, promises a respite from the gaiety of local colors and the trenches of social realism of decay and squalor.
Her long strips of dark maroon and cobalt blue colors floating on caramel ponds are an invitation to the eyes to elongate their scales beyond the limits of the canvas or the breadth of the painting. The illusion of continuity of the lines places the viewer on a virtual spot of the earth to breathe in the emotions and thoughts laid down by the painter. One is brought into a threshold of a journey or a trek into the moods and statements of the finite world of society inside the clutch of the Great Spirit who did the creation.
Having gone to many places all her life—born in Burma, schooled in Germany, Sudan, Kuwait, Pakistan and Sweden with her Indian diplomat father, and lived in temporary addresses with her engineer husband and two kids in Switzerland, Germany, India, Bangladesh, Egypt and the Philippines—Vinita (whose name in Hindi means “something you ask for from God”) moves her brush and colors the changing sites of the cities where her feet had pressed their marks.
Far from idyllic sceneries, Vinita paints landscapes that are ravaged by war and destruction, urban decay, environmental degradation, social squalor and overpopulation, and the dynamics of socio-economic forces. She laces them inside the caramel of her faith, a faith that belongs not to one religion but to all religions of men.
All faiths in one flask bobbing up and down on the ocean of seeming infinity: a metaphor for the stretch of her journey in life. Every spot on the earth has been her successive home, each a source of the storehouse of gentle memories. Developed countries fill her with forebodings that the horizons of human achievement are near the uninhabited wastelands of the deserts and the half-done towns. Do dots of their potentials take course through her works? Where will home be for a Punjabi daughter at the end?
Vinita explains that the Punjabis are a group of people who live in north of India. They love to work hard, play much, live an active social life, and love the good life. Every Punjabi is proud that he has a prolific interest in education in the arts such as poetry, music, dancing, architecture, painting and sculpture. This heritage shows up in Vinita’s accomplishments as a double degree holder in business administration and economics, a master in fine arts degree in the University of the Philippines in 2007, and as a great cook and pastry baker.
The exhibition Bands of Reflections runs from March 5 to 22 2009 at Hiraya Gallery. Hiraya Gallery is located at 530 United Nations Avenue, Ermita, Manila. Telefax (02) 523-3331 E-mail hiraya@info.com.ph or visit www.hiraya.com
Her long strips of dark maroon and cobalt blue colors floating on caramel ponds are an invitation to the eyes to elongate their scales beyond the limits of the canvas or the breadth of the painting. The illusion of continuity of the lines places the viewer on a virtual spot of the earth to breathe in the emotions and thoughts laid down by the painter. One is brought into a threshold of a journey or a trek into the moods and statements of the finite world of society inside the clutch of the Great Spirit who did the creation.
Having gone to many places all her life—born in Burma, schooled in Germany, Sudan, Kuwait, Pakistan and Sweden with her Indian diplomat father, and lived in temporary addresses with her engineer husband and two kids in Switzerland, Germany, India, Bangladesh, Egypt and the Philippines—Vinita (whose name in Hindi means “something you ask for from God”) moves her brush and colors the changing sites of the cities where her feet had pressed their marks.
Far from idyllic sceneries, Vinita paints landscapes that are ravaged by war and destruction, urban decay, environmental degradation, social squalor and overpopulation, and the dynamics of socio-economic forces. She laces them inside the caramel of her faith, a faith that belongs not to one religion but to all religions of men.
All faiths in one flask bobbing up and down on the ocean of seeming infinity: a metaphor for the stretch of her journey in life. Every spot on the earth has been her successive home, each a source of the storehouse of gentle memories. Developed countries fill her with forebodings that the horizons of human achievement are near the uninhabited wastelands of the deserts and the half-done towns. Do dots of their potentials take course through her works? Where will home be for a Punjabi daughter at the end?
Vinita explains that the Punjabis are a group of people who live in north of India. They love to work hard, play much, live an active social life, and love the good life. Every Punjabi is proud that he has a prolific interest in education in the arts such as poetry, music, dancing, architecture, painting and sculpture. This heritage shows up in Vinita’s accomplishments as a double degree holder in business administration and economics, a master in fine arts degree in the University of the Philippines in 2007, and as a great cook and pastry baker.
The exhibition Bands of Reflections runs from March 5 to 22 2009 at Hiraya Gallery. Hiraya Gallery is located at 530 United Nations Avenue, Ermita, Manila. Telefax (02) 523-3331 E-mail hiraya@info.com.ph or visit www.hiraya.com
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