Small is Beautiful

Rhythmscape 4, acrylic on paper, 2013.

Azmeer Hossain likes the form of miniature art. When galley Tone was there, and he was not yet a student the Department of Fine Arts, DU, he used to like the exhibition of miniature paintings. In his youth, he had done some miniature type work, but they were still life type work. From 2012, he began doing the small scale paintings side by side with the large ones. When he had his solo at Bengal Gallery, discussing with Rumi, they had decided to do a small show side by side with the large paintings and that is how the miniatures took form.

Cityscape 5, watercolour on paper, 2014.

Here at “Shilpangan”, Azmeer had worked with the same style as the large pictures. He wanted to explore further in the mixed media. In a cityscape he has depicted what he could see in his mind's eye. He doesn't see any point in just bringing a realistic representational painting of the city. He saw the forms in the city for a long time. Carrying the memory of this, he worked from them. This year, towards the beginning, he had gone to Sylhet, to Lala Khal, where he worked on green variations for some time. The layers of green appear like waves in a hillock. He does not work in the traditional water-colour way. He applies various layers to each of his forms in his different drawings.   

He creates his perspectives and then brings in his objects. When one sees through the window at the green, one sees the stems of the trees, and some objects, which unintentionally came to the paintings. In the cityscape, we see three basic forms: Cube, triangle and circle. Whatever architectural forms that you see in the city, stems from these shapes, he says. He then makes the compositions according to his own desires. There are many triangle forms to be seen outside. By applying the layers of colours, he prepares the background of the paintings.  

Cityscape 3, watercolour on paper, 2014.

The items he has portrayed are buildings, bridges, and sometimes he brings in lines and forms into a painting just to make it more interesting. If he leaves the part without any forms, the painting will look empty in part. For the sake of the composition he brings in the form to fill up the space. Some of the works have empty geometric designs.
What makes the painting stand out is the layered composition. Azmeer takes immense care while putting on the layers of paints. His water colour is fluid: his mixed media is evocative. Sometimes they are like rings of timber. They help him know when the wash was put.  

He does not draw what he sees directly.  Last year he went to see the Jamuna Bridge, and it came out in his work this year. The bridge has different layers of colours on it and mixed media has been applied here, says Azmeer. Sometimes he sees a window and he applies its colour in his paintings. The small paintings go hand in hand with the large ones. They depict shapes, objects and colours and human emotions.