Shamsunnahar Lovely is simultaneously a painter, photographer and Tagore artiste. In recent years, she has also come to the prominence as a boutique painter. She is one of the earnest followers of realism in our country and her thinking process and belief engulfed the genre of art. Inspired by her father Abdus Satter, a revered oriental painter (former Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka) of our country, Lovely's paintings are fresh, strongly built (in the sense of density of colours) and provide the spectators a sense of pleasure. She uses loose brushstrokes to delineate the various elements in her compositions, in which the subjects provide movement and colour, in which light and the atmosphere create a mysterious effect.
Blossoming and budding flowers as well as trees are recurring features in Lovely's paintings. She mainly dealt with the seasonal flowers in the country. She occasionally likes to experiment with diverse vague and plain forms, and enjoys breaking and constructing them in many ways. Her very picturesque and appealing natural observation is profoundly embedded in her psyche and her watercolour and mixed media based paintings are created spontaneously with her skilled hands brushing colours in the easels. The painter uses close-up views of the branches of trees containing patches of flowers of different colours and then changes the work by splashing colour pigments.
Lovely is a keen photographer who likes to grasp surrounding beauty through the lens. Brightness is a predominant aspect in her works as the images look very lucid and tranquil. Lovely has been practicing photography for over three decades.
Lovely's photographs are closely connected to paintings. Her photographs have delineated varied forms and compositions-- one of the traits of her photographs. Her images demonstration her intense fascination with nature, particularly with trees, foliage, flowers, bushes etc. Close shots of tree trunks, twigs, seeds and wild flowers denote her creativity and attachment with nature. She often zooms in on a particular part of a plant. Her images also highlight wild, exotic flowers and trees. Cloudy and clear sky, fog, crimson sun and other panoramic views are also in focus of her images. Riverine life, mountainous beauty and ethnic culture add a fascinating dimension to her works. Human figures are conspicuously missing in her photographic images; instead there is projection of nature and its mysterious aspects.
“When I was in Class nine, I started taking interest in photography. Photography is my hobby. It's intimately related to who I am. When I'm close to nature, I feel an urge to somehow preserve its splendour and fragrances. Its silence provokes me. With the photos, I've tried to explore the forms and tinges of nature in the presence of light and shadow,” Lovely said. The photographer said that she had travelled to distant hilly areas of the country to shoot rare wild flowers and trees.
Lovely also focuses on several ignored objects (abandoned cars, dry twigs, piled objects) as she intensely observes her ambiance. She seeks to find aestheticism in all its beauty. She demonstrates life's varied colours and forms. A number of her images are quite unique as she finds pleasure in experimentation.
“Photography is the expression of emotion and sensation for me. I like to select some subjects of my photography like blossoming flowers, riverine life, natural beauty and green horizons. “The beauty of nature attracted me the most. I have tried to capture the beauty of nature in my own way,” said Lovely.
As a Tagore enthusiast, Lovely have been researching his work and working places for a long time. She visited different locations in Bangladesh and India to capture significant sites where the poet lived, wrote and engaged himself in different activities. Browsing through history, she took photographs of the sites with great enthusiasm. Varieties of articles of his day to day use still exist in places. She believes that her images will give us a new idea about Rabindranath Tagore.
The photos showcased the places where Rabindranath Tagore lived, wrote and visited on many occasions. The images also focused on household articles and furniture, including bed, chairs, bookshelf, writing table, boat, private car and kitchenware.
Lovely's images highlighted places like Shilaidaha Kuthibari, Shahjadpur, Patishar, Shantiniketan, Thakur Bari of Jorashako, Dakkhin Dihi, Fultola, Jessore; Tagore Lodge, Kushtia and other significant places.
The photographer has caught the Shilaidaha Kuthibari a number of times at different angles to capture its architectural excellence and artistic beauty. In the photographs, it is seen as a red, sprawling building surrounded by a wide expanse of greenery, open space and blooming flowers. She has snapped the Dakkhin Dihi in Jessore that the bard visited several times and used to sit in the balcony and enjoy the picturesque beauty of the Rupsha river. Her images also focused on household articles and furniture, including bed, chairs, bookshelf, writing table, boat, private car and kitchen ware.
Lovely has won several national and international awards. Her exhibitions were held at different galleries in city and different countries like Bhutan, Nepal, India, Malaysia, Bangkok, France and England.
The writer is an art critic and cultural curator.
