The creativity of Nahid Raza unfolds a beautiful array of artworks in a solo exhibition titled "Virdh" at Canvas Gallery, Karachi. The gallery created an aesthetic atmosphere as each painting manifests the artist's love for Allah.
With a strong aesthetic appeal, brilliant use of colours and superb balance between design and composition Nahid created an immediate visual impact with the repetition of the holy name of Allah through the symbol of 'Alif" - an initial word of the holy name repeatedly used by her in squares.
She used squares in her paintings symbolically for the Holy Ka'aba which is a square shaped house of Allah. She skilfully used the holy house shape to represent her feelings for Allah and connect herself with her creator.
The Asma-al-Husna is a gift given to the Muslims by Allah who wanted mankind to praise Him day and night. The word Allah is the supreme in all divine names of God. The name Allah is unique and unmatched and indicates the existence of one creator of the universe who is almighty, superior and all-powerful.
Thus the paintings were the reflection of the title "Virdh" as the different paintings revealed repetition of symbolic motifs to reflect the feeling of love to Allah by the artist.
The artist painted the divine word freely and creatively but of course the artworks were governed by the principles of balance and proportion, rhythm and unity.
While going through Nahid's paintings one felt like lost in the trance of her artworks. The viewers were overwhelmed by the message of peace, love and reverence echoed in the artworks. Although she used different style, the acrylic on canvas artworks have a strong aesthetic appeal.
The artworks appeared with various floral patterns in the background in bright colours such as yellow, purple, blue and ochre that enriched the artworks resulting in an artistic beauty. Each of the paintings has a design highlighted by square shaped motifs and alphabet 'Alif' in black and white colour in the middle or bottom of the paintings.
The composition of the paintings showed repetition of the squares in different style of structures that depicted the 'Virdh' of Allah that a person on every living being on this earth do everyday, every hour, every minute, every second to praise the almighty and thank him for everything he has given to us specially life.
"My present work is based on spirituality, meditation and Sufism. One can find these elements in my paintings because I use the repetition of the name of God through the symbol of Alif in squares that I use repeatedly. I painted the Islamic motives all over the painting and use those motives which give me the real spirituality of the letter, Alif," she stated.
A painting in black and white stands out as it consists of black and white floral round patterns in the background with a blur small square in the middle and having two circles a smaller one around the square and a bigger one around the smaller one showing a circular movement like a Tawaf at Holy Ka'aba.
Nahid brilliantly portrayed the value of a single letter and how it connected us to the divine world. She explained the association of human beings with their creator. She shared her spiritual experience as a human being with others while it is up to the viewers to decide and feel their link to the paintings.
She painted her feelings while reciting names of Allah that is a 'Virdh' that transfer her into another world and she felt more pure and spiritually elevated while doing so. Therefore she decided to share her feelings and as a result this series of paintings was created.
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