Creative Space latest exhibition entitled 'Pause & Rewind' is the perfect opportunity to view the different styles of contemporary art by veteran local artists. A total of six artworks that have been specially selected for the exhibition by artist Zakaria Hamid, five of them based on his life journeys and experiences gained both locally and abroad ranging between the years 1980 to 2017.
The artist expresses his memories in his artworks by creating an important representation of what had happened during that time or using a symbol to signify that important event that had happened. As an example, Zakaria had mentioned that his painting titled Winnowing is based on his experience when visiting his hometown. In it he put an emphasis on the shell of the snail by enlarging it than its usual size.
The sixth, however, is the artist’s most prominent work; Magic Vase, created based on the concepts of Art for Art’s sake, which is titled the Magic Vase. This particular painting was drawn after he had finished his studies at Norwich School of Art in the UK. When asked on why he had created this piece, he said “As I am fresh out of the art school, I am still fascinated with the idea of experimenting on lines and structures hence why I created ‘Magic Vase’. This particular painting is an Art for Art’s sake type of work as I just wanted to show that the structure of shapes can be altered. Hence why the shapes in this painting does not appear as how it is supposed to look. It means forsaking reality and concentrating instead on art elements and principles.”
‘Art for Art’s sake’ or "L'art pour l'art" (in French) is a phrase created by Théophile Gautier; which means that art has its own value and should be judged apart from any themes which it might touch on, such as morality, religion, history, or politics. It teaches that judgements of aesthetic value should not be confused with those proper to other spheres of life.
“Upon seeing all my artworks being displayed, have you noticed something in particular?” Zakaria said after a pause. “It is not the colours but something else. It is related to what we have talked about, in particular, shapes and patterns.” This will pique the interest of many as from the artworks that Zakaria have created so far, there are two things that he will never forget to add which are the circular shape and making the intangible elements as a symbol. The artist expresses that he loves the circular pattern and without fail, he will insert it in his paintings. When he does this, he will make this particular pattern slightly bigger or it will be repeated in the painting to symbolize its importance to him. Despite that, he will always think about the harmony of these patterns and colours. Harmony may be defined as a pleasing relationship between different sections of a composition.
To express the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations, Zakaria Hamid also loves to use symbolism in his artworks. The element he frequently uses to express symbolism is line. Line creates representation on both realistic and abstract levels. Zakaria may indicate a wealth of factual information by employing a variety of line characteristics. In this sense, he mentioned that he tends to give ‘life’ to energy and wind.
This is because he wants to show everyone that these invisible force is still there and that they exist for a reason.During the interview, I expressed my opinion on how I see and interpreted all of the artist’s artworks when it was my first time seeing them. I saw the artworks with deeper and darker feelings because of the colours that he had decided to use. When he learned of my own analysis of his paintings, he just nod thoughtfully and said
“That is how I want people to see my paintings. When I created them, it may seem innocent and straightforward in my mind but others especially people who does not have any art background can see it differently. And that is what contemporary art is.”
‘Curiosity killed the cat’ is what we always have heard but, remember its rejoinder ‘..but satisfaction brought it back’. So, anyone who is interested to see Zakaria’s artworks alongside the works from four other veteran artists is most welcomed to visit Creative Space Art Gallery & Studio, to explore and falls deeply in love with the world of art. The gallery is situated in Sengkurong Shopping Complex and the exhibition is still ongoing from Sunday 7th January 2018 to Saturday 24th February 2018.
Pause & Rewind marks the beginning of a new initiative by Creative Space that is in line with their mission to record, conserve, and preserve Brunei’s Art-Culture heritage, alongside their project such as ‘EMERGE’ which focuses on Brunei’s young and emerging artists.