Saga of patterns and prints

Printmaking, an art hardly understood and seldom encouraged involves a great deal of precision and as artist Zara Naeem expresses, “our sweat and blood is put into it.” Under the supervision of Rakshanda Atawar, three students’ work was recently put up for display at 39K gallery. Rakshanda narrates how it all began, “Mr Arfan Augustine at Lahore College for Women University initially requested me to come as an external supervisor to which I agreed.”
While Rakshanda happily fostered their talent, the university was glad to have her as a coach for the budding artists. This year’s class included three print makers: Amna Gul, Ramana Masood and Zara Naeem. Rakshanda admits being a tough instructor, “at times you need to pressurize the students lest they become laid back.”
Rakshanda bombarded them with assignments while they complied. She showed them work from around the globe so that they get the exposure of the medium, scale and areas being explored by various artists. She rebukes the notion that a theme is mandatory for art and insists that it rather confines the artist.
Amna Gull follows in the footsteps of her supervisor and experiments with patterns. Some of her work includes intricate patterns using diminutive circles organized in a skilful manner.
Talking about the problems that came her way, Amna says, “there were many problems that we faced like the press not working, prints not coming out right and tough working conditions”. Amna reveals her desire to become an art teacher after completing her education as she feels one must pass on the knowledge. She further adds, “I want to freely and creatively make prints as my heart leads.”
Amna, who started her academic journey as a sciences student and made the shift to arts with her elder brother’s support is not afraid of hardships and claims, “I’m not going to turn back from it now.” Contrary to Amna, Zara Naeem who has her roots in Faisalabad knew from early childhood that she would be an artist and so she always studied arts. For this exhibition she used a technique called collography, which involves pasting paper on top of a thick paper/board and then cutting out the pattern. She shares her experience, “while making those plates I injured my fingers and got several cuts.”
Although Zara had not consciously planned it to be so, but her work turned out to be textile inspired at the end. She excitedly revealed, “ I even printed my own shirts for Eid using these plates”. She also experimented with three colour tones and expressed how a single plate could be used to create different prints. She admits being depressed at some points when things wouldn’t turn out the way she wanted them to. Zara aspires to help others, “I feel financial constraints impede people from getting into this field. When I become a teacher I would respect novel ideas and support them in every way I can.”
Another interesting theme in the exhibition was that of Ramana Masood who worked around doors, locks and stairs. She derived her inspiration from her own wedding, which she views as a new path in her life. However, she adds, “the same door can have a different meaning for different people.” One eye-catching design by Ramana includes a traditional door, which she first carved on wood and then printed on fabric. She credits her father’s constant source of encouragement for her success and feels that Rakshanda’s emphasis on quality over quantity made her strive for excellence. With her work Ramana has proved her philosophy of life, “if you want to move forward in life nothing can stop you.”