Liza's watery brushes

Many of you know Dhaka as the city of traffic jams, rickshaws or mosques, but there is one other title that our beloved city can most certainly lay claim to – Dhaka is slowly becoming a city of art. Alongside widely-known exhibitions like the Asian Art Biennale, Dhaka Art Summit and Chobimela, which have reached the scale of any large-scale Shilpakala festival now, there are also a constant flow of displays, of eminent and upcoming artists alike, at the growing number of galleries across the city. One such exhibition was the recent Water Impala, which ran from March 24-26 at the Crystal Palace Building in Gulshan-1. Not the usual haunt for art fiends in the city, it displayed the works of Liza Hasan in her debut exhibition. A self-taught artist working solely with watercolor, Liza Hasan worked closely with Karina Zannat, who curated the exhibition, to create a display that not only spoke to the audience, but allowed them to engage and answer back. According to Liza, watercolor “is the only medium that speaks to you without saying a word and takes my stress away,” and her work focused mainly on figures that all had different stories to tell – be it about societal expectations regarding head scarfs and body weight, or about greater events like the Korail slum fire. The storytelling did not end with the paintings – the pillars of the gallery were covered with poems of Sylvia Plath, T S Eliot, Sunil Gangopaddhay, Rupi Kaur and more – all chosen by the curator according to what most corresponded with the artist's thoughts while creating them. “I feel like Liza's work is really accessible to people – it's all about people and eyes and just human emotions and experiences, so I wanted to create a space where all kinds of people can come together and experience her work in an accessible manner,” said Karina Zannat. The thought that went behind its design showed in the exhibition, from the lyrical descriptions next to each painting to the little corners that allowed people to make music, leave notes or just enjoy a cup of tea with friends. “I do not think I'm a professional, I'm still learning. Everytime I start a painting, I'm so scared but once I'm done, every single time I surprise myself, because I actually finished it!” said Liza Hasan. “I hope to start oil painting in the same way,” she added. “I don't know I'm not very good with words and this is the only way I can show you how I feel through my painting” Due to popular demand, Liza's work will now be put into a storybook along with the excerpts written by Karina to correspond to the art. They are also working on putting on a larger exhibition this summer.