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Traditional art with modern forms
Fayza Haq
Denise Hudon, a French-Canadian artist residing in Dhaka, is having her solo "Empreintes" (Imprints) at the Alliance Francaise. She combines traditional art with modern forms. She uses handmade paper with vegetable dyes, which she makes on her own. She uses cotton rags, corn and onion leaves with colours from dahlia, marigold, indigo and lac (red colouring matter), which she grows in her own garden. The richness and power of African culture has been her source of inspiration for long. With it now she combines the lure of Asia. Having studied in Fine Arts she specialised in ceramic sculpture. She taught ceramic and painting for 15 years. As she moved on from Africa to Asia, she picked up block printing.Whenever Denise goes to a new country she searches for vegetable dyes, some handmade paper and made more herself from tropical fibre. Here, in Dhaka, she has used cotton pulp and corn leaf. Her work is sculptural, being two dimensional, using varieties of paper ranging from transparent to heavy ones with texture. A few are from linen, which she made in Canada. The paper is not cut, but completed in the frames in which they are created. After the paper is done in different shapes, sizes and textures she dyes. She did 30 pieces in six weeks, working in Dhaka, to mark "Francophonie" in April. "Here in Bangladesh they use dyes from plants but they are used mostly for fabrics. From dahlia alone I get from light yellow to dark brown shades. Sometimes I get iron oxide from rusted water to darken the hues," says Denise. Asked to comment on the shapes of her work, Denise says, "The triangle stands for prayer and inspiration. It is also architectural motif. In the triangles that face different directions, there is a connection in between. The shapes also stand for justice. The link could be bringing two different countries or people. One particular one is inspired by an African game in which the results are gathered by overnight footprints of animals. When people come in the morning there are imprints on the sand." Denise, has had about 25 solo exhibitions in Mirabel (Canada), Montreal, New York, Togo, Ghana, Mali, Islamabad, Delhi and Jakarta. She has taken part in six group exhibitions in Montreal, Togo and Dhaka. The exhibition will remain opened till 12th April.
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An artwork by Denise |
