Page 287 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

284 ART AND CRAFTS

typically female qualities in her work, we will see the textures she
creates on the surface, her love of details which is reminiscent of the
stitches sued in the nakshi kantha. Her use of color seems to be
inspired by the medium of watercolor.
Naima Haque’s picture books for children and her paintings depict
maternity, the world in the eyes of children, family and nature. Anna
Islam says about her work that her work shows her philosophy, self-
discovery which mainly frames a woman’s eagerness of body and
mind and her desire for identity. Her work shows the use of folk
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forms and color. Her attention to details, dots, scratches and flowing
lines seem to connect her work to the traditional art of our women
artists. She presents the world as perceived in the eyes of women
(fig. 7.19). The work of Sadhana Islam also depicts village life in a
simplified way (fig. 7.21). Nurun Nahar (Papa) (1954- ) uses a
variety of media and form in her rather design-based work (fig.
7.18).
The seventies gradually saw a larger number of women entering the
world of institutionalized art and that in turn brought changes to
that world. The art works of women presented their own existence
and that depicted the social reality of women. In certain cases, women have made
direct statements against abuse and discrimination against other women. In which case
it must be admitted that they follow an alternative path to the mainstream. They show
a greater desire to examine themselves and exhibit greater diversity in experimenting
with a separate language of art.
Nazlee Laila Mansur has been an unceasingly active artist from the eighties. Her work
shows the narrowness of the woman’s world in a slightly surrealistic manner. Her
work directly represents the social
insecurity and oppression of women
(fig. 7.20). It evinces the tendency to
look into minute details, a clear and
readable presentation of the whole
story and the use of many symbols.
Rowshan Haq Dipa (1953-1999) has
often presented women in her work
fig. 7.20 (top) Nazlee with troubled and unhappy expressions
Laila Mansur, Floating (fig. 7.23). Suffering from cancer in the
Woman, 1999 last two years of her life, she expressed
herself through self-portraits. Her self-
fig. 7.21 (bottom) portraits in pencil show her remarkable
Sadhana Islam, Field of drawing skills. According to Abul
Nakshi Kantha,
tempera, 1993 Mansur, such skill in construction of