Colour was the basic structure of the compositions in artworks by Noorjehan Bilgrami. She uses colour rather than line to represent shapes and forms. The framework of her artworks consists of materials, fabrics, colour, space and memories of the past. Her works were between textile, paint and print waiting to be discovered by others. The iconography showed an exploration of the autobiographical gestures. Her work was narrative and descriptive complementing the title "Under the Molsri Tree" of the solo exhibition at Koel Gallery, Karachi.
Her palette reflected the emotional phases and memories she revisited while completing the artworks. The work directly involved her personal experiences and emotions as she used family photographs as part of her work binding more firmly her work close to her heart. She gathered her life's impressions in her recent body of work. Her conceptual images resembled the real ones and here she merged fiction and reality creating an impulsive effect.
The exhibition consisted two series titled "Under the Molsri Tree" and "Safar". As the molsri tree brought memories of childhood the safar series talked about the world after childhood which was like a journey and this journey is still going on. The presence of molsri tree in the background of paintings indicated the soothing experiences of childhood. The memories are fresh as evergreen leaves of the molsri tree. The exhibits "Under the molsri tree" were in acrylic, graphite, silk cloth, and rice paper on arches paper; print segments in archival ink while in the "Safar" series she used indigo dye, acrylic, indigo-dyed cloth, rice paper and graphite on arches paper.
The impressions in her mind took shapes and forms on cloth and paper. Marks and designs were produced on the surface by pressing her memories just like fingerprints that never change and remain with you till death. A work of art appeared on paper as the memories in the form of photographs and the molsri tree emerged disclosing the once forgotten past as one needed time to remember and lived those bygone moments once again. But Noorjehan Bilgrami lived her past once again through her recent artworks many times as many as the number of her artworks.
Materializing memories is a fastidious labour. It was difficult and hard to be satisfied with the resultant artwork. As the artist wanted her work to reflect perfectly what she wanted to share and discuss with other people through her art. But the effect of her over careful work was impressive and one not only enjoyed but also understood her work which was the basic desire of the artist.
The delicate spontaneous work which came from the heart inspired the viewer. The geometric patterns along the dotted lines merging and separating various moments created a living story that many of us know as they were once a character of some what similar story and hence grasp the meaning of the work. They comprehend the nature of artworks. The markings of indigo, gold and charcoal gave her work a historic look and the drawings of molsri tree added an extra touch of nobility. The natural dyed fabrics helped creating a natural feeling to the artworks. The small bundle of fabric "Potli" is used as a symbol of "safar" thus spontaneous recollections of past days.
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