Colours, cities and the egg-shaped obsession

Colaba-based art gallery, Jamaat is showcasing cityscapes on canvas and fibreglass sculptures by Bangladesh-based artist Vinita Karim. Titled Stories Of The Golden Horizon, it is inspired by the strange and beautiful cities Karim has visited over the years

Artist Vinita Karim has always been attracted to unknown cities. Since her childhood, she has lived in cities like Cairo, Manila, Berne, Tripoli, Nuremberg, Kuwait, Islamabad and Mumbai. Though currently based in Bangladesh, she calls herself a global citizen.

Mirage, Acrylic on canvas

Her ongoing exhibition is titled Stories Of The Golden Horizon and features fibreglass sculptures as well as paintings created using acrylics, oil, gold and silver leaf. The images delve on the imaginary landscapes of the artist’s mind.

“These landscapes have been influenced by many travels around the world. Each city where I have lived in has influenced my work, subtly. My use of gold leaf began after I observed objects of art covered with gold leaf in Cairo. My use of vibrant colours is influenced by the medley of colours on the streets in India,” she elaborates.

For inspiration, she looks back on her treasure trove of memories: “The inky black of the sky under a crescent moon on a boat in the Sunderbans is a very recent inspiration. The night is so dark that one can see nothing.

The sun setting in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt looks so enormous and powerful. The cool winds on the Alps in Switzerland with snow un-melted on the peaks, the vast deserts of Libya and the lovely turquoise of the Mediterranean Sea are other inspirations.”

Water and boats occupies a great deal of significance in her art — “There is something so infinite about oceans and seas. The boats on these waters represent journeys, an exchange of cultures, trade and ideas.”

Her ovoid-shaped sculptures represent creation: “The egg is the beginning of life. As a woman and mother I relate it to fertility,” she explains.u00a0Karim has used many elements including newsprint, papyrus and parchment in her work. Her favourite artworks include the painting titled Mirage. “It is truly a fairy tale painting with a rainbow-like sky and a city emerging from nowhere,” she reveals.

Till October 3, 11 am to 7 pm
At Jamaat, Tulloch Road, Colaba.
Call 22822145u00a0

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