One can enjoy the intrinsic elements in the artworks of Akram Dost Baloch in an exhibition at Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi. Titled "Shenakht" the paintings had a great influence of his native land. The images hold up the mirror to viewers which showed indigenous life and society.
The distinctive environment of the gallery created by the artworks of the artist took me through the mind and soul of the figurative characters. The paintings as well as wood carvings focused on the details of the life in the artist's home town. The facial expressions of the figures both men and women revealed their attachment to their soil, their ethnic affiliation, their inborn relation to their country.
His compositions and use of colours indicated his intense association with his surrounding. His latest creations in wood carvings brought another subtle way of seeing the daily life. His artistic creations were closely link to the soil. Akram depicted the physically resilient mood of Balochistan through his sombre palette. His recent body of work showed indigenous atmosphere of his origin. The ethnicity of the artist is strongly reflected in his work.
A new dimension to the local lifestyle can be witness in his artworks. The dark hues of paintings depicting men and women reflected the miseries they face during their hard lives. Much of Akram's paintings incorporate his in-depth knowledge of history, arts and crafts of his region, Balochistan. As Akram grew up in the surroundings with a rich cultural background his work is always seem to be influenced with that information.
The paintings compositions and wood carvings reflected different moods of Akram. The thick lines were distinct feature of his artworks, which were reflection of his own personal aesthetic issues. His work combined nature with life thus showed his involvement with his soil. Some of his work show miniature style giving it a new look.
It seemed that the artist was conversing through his artworks keeping the viewers engaged. One feels an immutable silence in his artworks. He told untold stories of suffering and oppression faced by the people due to the poor socio-economic conditions of the region.
Akram dealt with sensitive issues with powerful representation of people faces in mask style some figures looked like statues but their wide big eyes were a window to their soul. The backgrounds of the paintings were deep and dark contemplating hard times. He incorporated the dilemma of identities in a unique style.
There were chest like boxes at the exhibition having figurative carvings just like the paintings. Using relief carving technique Akram depicted the suffering and oppression of the people in a contemporary form. The paintings were like the silent screams of society. The almond eyes of the figures showed distress and pain and some times disbelief and in other paintings these eyes question about their tragic lives. "Why" was clearly written in their eyes.
The blurred and distorted faces of people both men and women hiding their identities but at the same time revealing stories thus trying to communicate with the world through their facial expressions. The faces interpret the words between twists and turns of the lines on them.
A face is a reflection of one's soul. Therefore, Akram very skilfully use the face to present the truth wrapped in facial expressions. The faces of men in beard and turban while women faces in veils speaking with their eyes. He mainly used earth tones and black colour in his paintings and carvings, other colours were also used but in soft tones. Viewers stop in front of paintings and tried to understand the message and story behind the lonely and sad faces.
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