User:Rashid Arshed

Creating rhythm in form and color is like catching butterflies. A leisure of expressing and arresting beauty.

Images that we see around us have been created and recreated, shaped and reshaped, defined and redefined time after time. Change in form texture and color is an aesthetic process that reflects man’s intellectual development.

Art of script, an abstract form of expression, has, since it’s inception gone through many changes, emerging in most cases from recognizable images in nature, to highly elegant abstract visual characters.

In our time with the advent of industrial and commercial deluge, the art of script expanded into astronomical dimensions and applications with infinite variety of shapes, symbols and characters. From traditional art of calligraphy. Edited march 4, 2008

Calligraphy or the art of beautiful handwriting has fascinated people of the world cultures through the ages. It also acquired the status of spiritual expression for many. For the Buddhists it is vehicle to express devotion to god, the Christians illuminated pages of Bible in the Middle Ages and the Muslims took it to great heights through innumerable variations and styles for ornamentation of buildings, tombstones, and to illuminate Quran and literary works.

It is no wonder that the contemporary artists drew inspiration from the classical masterpieces and gave new meaning to the art of calligraphy. I am one of the earliest painters of Pakistan who use calligraphy in contemporary paintings in innovative manner and have used it consistently since the late sixties. Rarely do I use the words or phrases that are readable or have literal relevance; even so, they become integral part of the synthesis. Focusing at the painterly characteristics of classical calligraphy I manipulate it to build compositions that are contemporary in appeal. Drawing inspiration from the old manuscripts, architectural inscriptions, decrees, emblems, coins and seals, I transform them into a modern painting where the emphasis is on form, linear rhythm, color and texture. I ask my audience not to try to read my paintings but enjoy them like any work of art. Posted: March 4, 2008