Luminosity and lucidity are the characteristics of the paintings of Fokhrul Islam, a freelance painter of our country. All his enigmatically resonant paintings are called 'Image.' His images are very much pensive and make the viewer ponder. So it is no surprise he is known as a thinking artist whose paintings invite viewers to engage cerebrally with the images he creates. As usual, the images are done on p^per with printing ink. He uses printer's ink and mustard oil to create his inscrutable cosmic subjects and metaphysical landscapes.

Fokhrul started off as a ceramic artist in the early 1990s, and suddenly decided to switch to painting in the mid 1990s. After that his voyage through the paintings where he has depicted a spiritual and contemplative world has been concerned with dotted and unin-

habited landscapes, which hold up before us a world that is seemingly very alien. When we look at his works more closely, innumerable combinations of lines and tones begin to expose themselves before our eyes. But the fascinating thing is, all the works and preparations are not in any way

disruptive and monotonous. The works give the impression to our minds of a continuous process being unfolded.

Fokhrul unintentionally depicts the gloomy sunsets, silent woods, outsize deserts, thick forests, whirlwinds and various natural features of the world. But the

images nurture in our mind for its pure forms and unusual looks. Sometimes the arrangements of enormous dots and geometric forms create a philosophy of aestheticism. His work reflects an introspective and thinking mind, one that searches for relation between lines, dots, spaces and recurring textures. The textures look very structured and persistent.

The monochromic images give us a romantic and imposing view. A number of works reveal silence and emptiness. After viewing the works, one can realise the simplicity and the beauty of simplicity. Simplicity is splendour, and that is why after a long time, we can memorise these creations. Some works show a combination with modern geometric forms and broken lines. Vertical and horizontal lines are admirably presented in some of Fokhrul's works. The colours reflect the serenity and desolation. His mental canvas covers a wide vista of aesthetic impressions that he has gathered through his life. Sometimes the lines are very visible for thickness and sometimes the lines are invisible and conglomerate to give a shadowy and whimsical image. The lines seem to us to provide a new presence and to introduce a novel chapter in our life. Life is always growing and expanding - a process that brings to us a New World which is completely unknown to us. His flat surface plays between the monochromic colour and sprinkled texture to set up an illusionary effect of space. This has been created on the canvas although the colours that have been applied are flat tones. Keeping perspective in mind, the tonal plus linear approach give his work a different quality that engrosses our attention and leads to fresh insights into dynamic possibilities suggested so vividly by Fokhrul, the thinking artist.

The writer is a freelance contributor.