Farhat Gul—an artist inspired by rhythm, diversity

Islamabad: For acclaimed artist Farhat Gul, her paints and brushes are more than a medium. They are motivational tools that give expression and form to inspiration and magic wands that add beauty and music to these forms, all working in tandem to create a delightful work of art, she told ‘The News’.

Farhat, a graduate in fine art from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, where she was taught by legends like Anna Molka Ahmed and Ghulam Rasul, initially worked in the mediums she was trained in, not feeling the need to experiment in alternative themes or new mediums.

She learned the art of appreciating nature in its purest form and began painting everyday life on canvas, which albeit common and mundane to the naked eye, made her paintings alive by the plethora of expressions and colours that she would skilfully reproduce. For that reason, most of her earlier works focused on highlighting the beauty of the natural and cultural diversity of Pakistan.

However, with time Farhat moved on to explore vistas leading to a multitude of ideas to refine and expand her scope of work. Through her brush strokes, she began to translate the sensitivity of feelings and the fluidity of movement, which are clearly marked in her series of paintings on the Whirling Dervish, Wild and Magnificent Horses and Swan Ballerinas.

“Movement in any form is a great source of inspiration for me, and the more closely I observe, the more I am convinced that the world around us in not static. It never can be. The constant flow of life and the ultimate circulation of the universe validate Nature’s rhythmical pattern of motion, which, in the words of Aristotle, is un-generated, un-aging, incorruptible, eternal, constant and unchanging.”

According to her, juxtaposed with this phenomenon is the colossal diversity of human race and biodiversity we see around us.

“This law of nature is perhaps the impetus behind the movement and variety of themes that I put down on my canvas, as I cannot bring myself to limit my art to a particular style, genre, subject-matter or technique.”

Farhat is now preparing for her participation in World Art Dubai (April 7-10) at the World Trade Centre, Dubai, to prove her skills in rendition of diverse themes with equal ease and pleasing results’. The works include the ‘Wild and Magnificent’ comprising paintings of horses and burros found in the magical wilderness of Washoe County in Nevada, USA; ‘Whirling Dervishes’ showing total abandonment to the Creator, expressed through skilful dancing and whirling rituals transporting them to a world of ecstatic oblivion, ‘Shades of Pakistan’ highlighting the heterogeneous environment and co-existence of different cultures and ethnicities in Pakistan, a classic example of ‘Unity in Diversity’, and ‘Persian Mughal Inspiration’ showing the richness of themes, colours and exquisite rendition inspired by the art of miniature painting. The artist has also been invited to the Amsterdam International Art Fair (August 20-22). However, she has yet to decide about how many pieces of her artwork and what particular theme(s) she will choose for the event of great international significance. Farhat has participated in group exhibitions in Islamabad and held regular solo exhibitions as well.