Ohida Khandakar

Category: Drawing

Drawing

  • Really Fresh

    Really Fresh

    Drawing installation, drawing and watercolour on paper, 56 × 8 inches, 2019

    The central focus of Really Fresh is to question the act of chopping and its connection to violence within a specific context. Through this piece, Ohida explores the metaphorical reality of recurring domestic violence, symbolically represented by the erosion of vegetables. The gradual deterioration of the vegetables serves as a metonymic representation of the extensive mutilation experienced by the victims of such violence.

    A sequence of female figures whose heads are replaced by vegetables — eggplant, watermelon, tomato, mango — set against a warm golden ground. The repeated act of chopping and carrying functions as a metaphor for domestic violence. The work is also displayed as a folded accordion book.

    Really Fresh (full view), drawing and watercolour on paper, 56 x 8 inches, 2019. A panoramic horizontal composition depicting a sequence of female figures whose heads are replaced by vegetables — eggplant, watermelon, tomato, mango — set against a warm golden ground.
    Really Fresh — full view

    Details

    Really Fresh (detail), two panels showing a dark-haired figure bowing beneath a large purple eggplant, the vegetable and figure merging through overlapping watercolour washes.
    Really Fresh (detail), a figure in profile wearing a striped green headscarf extends a long dark form — part veil, part vegetable — outward from the body in a gesture of offering or struggle.
    Really Fresh (detail), a female figure with a tomato pressed over her face by a reaching hand, beside a mango and large leaf rendered in ink and watercolour.
    Really Fresh (installation view), the work displayed as a folded accordion book standing upright on a studio surface, revealing the sequential panels of the drawing installation.
    Displayed as a folded accordion book
  • Exuberant Anonymity

    Exuberant Anonymity

    Installation , watercolour on Wasli board with Rehal stand, 2018

    Exuberant Anonymity (installation view), watercolour on Wasli board with Rehal stand, 2018. The open illustrated book is mounted on a traditional wooden Rehal (Quran stand), presenting the work as a sacred text. The two veiled figures face each other across the open spread, the warm terracotta ground of the pages contrasting with the dark silhouetted forms.
    Installation view on Rehal stand
    Exuberant Anonymity (detail view), watercolour on Wasli board with Rehal stand, 2018. An open illustrated book laid flat: the left page bears a fully veiled figure in a patterned dark robe holding a phone to photograph herself; the right page depicts a second veiled figure.
    detail
  • Burden of Sorrow

    Burden of Sorrow

    Drawing installation , two drawings on paper with tungsten bulb backlight
    24 × 18 inches, 2018

    The artwork delves into the intricate theme of cultural identity, capturing the interplay of religious and social significance in a unique and compelling manner. It showcases the complex tapestry of diverse cultures, inviting viewers to contemplate the richness and diversity within our society.

    Burden of Sorrow, drawing installation, two drawings on paper with tungsten bulb backlight, 24 x 18 inches, 2018. Photographed in situ with backlit illumination, the layered drawings merge into a single glowing image: a fully veiled woman in an ornate dark burqa holds a small child and a long ribbon or scroll bearing Bengali script, while a second drawn layer creates a ghostly double exposure.
    Burden of Sorrow, in-situ with tungsten backlight
  • Dine Dupure (Daytime – All Time)

    Dine Dupure (Daytime – All Time)

    Watercolour and drawing on paper, 10 × 10 inches each, 2018

    Dine Dupure (Daytime – All Time) — full series of twelve panels displayed in a 4×3 grid. Each square painting on a warm ochre ground depicts figures, animals, and symbolic objects rendered in a flat graphic style with ink and watercolour washes. Watercolour and drawing on paper, 10 × 10 inches each, 2018.
    Dine Dupure — full series of twelve panels