Ohida Khandakar

Category: Painting

  • The Golden Daughter

    The Golden Daughter

    Photo colour and gold foil leaf on paper, 12 × 17 inches each, 2021

    The Golden Daughter (triptych view), photo colour and gold foil leaf on paper, 12 × 17 inches each, 2021. Three panels displayed side by side: at left, a male figure in Mughal-style courtly dress holding a small doll; at centre, a lone flower on a long stem rising from gold-foil earth against a deep red-washed ground; at right, a female figure in ornate dress carrying a child on her shoulders, rendered in a South Asian miniature painting tradition with gold foil accents.
    The Golden Daughter — triptych view
  • Dark Flower

    Dark Flower

    Watercolour on paper, 18 × 12 inches each, 2019

    Dark Flower (panel 4), watercolor on paper, 18 x 12 inches, 2019. A reclining figure draped in a dark patterned textile, a large red apple with green sprouting leaves resting where the head should be, Bengali script visible on the fabric. A reaching dark hand emerges at right against blossoming pink washes.
    Panel 1
    Dark Flower (panel 2), watercolour on paper, 18 x 12 inches, 2019. A prone female figure with dark flowing hair reaches forward across a ground of crimson washes, surrounded by large botanical forms — a vivid green leaf and dark seed pods — with a small medicine dropper above.
    Panel 2
    Dark Flower (panel 3), watercolour on paper, 18 x 12 inches, 2019. An abstracted, visceral composition of interlocking limbs and organic forms in dark rose, grey, and black washes, dissolving the boundary between the human body and fluid matter.
    Panel 3
    Dark Flower (panel 4), watercolour on paper, 18 x 12 inches, 2019. A reclining figure draped in a dark patterned textile, a large red apple with green sprouting leaves resting where the head should be, Bengali script visible on the fabric.
    Panel 4

  • Mother’s Arms Are More Comfortable

    Mother’s Arms Are More Comfortable

    Installation, 2019
    Next Step Residency Program, 1 Shanti Road, Bangalore, India

    This project portrays the profound impact of identity pressures on marginalised communities, offering a glimpse into the contextual reality of our society. Through this series, Ohida explores the inherent transparency of watercolour as a medium, which reveals incidental truths and invites introspection.

    The kinetic installation operates as a metaphorical panopticon, conveying the continuous propagation of oppression in our contemporary era , maintaining surveillance and perpetuating a sense of control. The rotating drum printed with figures enacts the endless repetition of violence.

    Exhibition installation view at 1 Shanti Road, Bangalore — a panoramic watercolour drawing hangs on the left wall, three photo ink paintings on Canson paper are mounted in the centre, and the kinetic installation on a white pedestal stands to the right against a black curtain. Next Step Residency Program, 2019.
    Exhibition view, 1 Shanti Road, Bangalore, 2019

    Mother’s Arms Are More Comfortable

    Photo ink on Canson paper, 12 × 8 inches each, 2019

    Mother's Arms Are More Comfortable — watercolour figure study showing a faceless, hooded figure seated on a branch, body saturated in deep red washes evoking bruising and blood.
    Mother's Arms Are More Comfortable — a second panel: a faceless seated figure in a white dress, limbs stained with red and crimson washes, surrounded by pink floral splashes.
    Mother's Arms Are More Comfortable — a third panel: a faceless figure in a headscarf cradles a prone body, both forms marked by red watercolour stains. The composition echoes the Mater Dolorosa.

    Kinetic Installation

    DC electric motor, 3 RPM, Canson paper, OHP print, 2019.

    Kinetic installation component — a cylindrical drum printed with figures in red rotates on a slender white pedestal against a black backdrop, driven by a DC electric motor at 3 RPM.

    Panoramic Works

    Panoramic watercolour and ink drawing — a narrative frieze depicting figures including a woman in traditional dress holding a flower, a praying figure, wrestlers, and a floating face in a headscarf, all rendered against loose rust-red washes. Watercolour on Canson paper, 2019.
    Detail of watercolour wash used in the installation — an abstract horizontal expanse of red, crimson, and ochre blooms on paper, suggesting organic cellular forms or spreading bruises.
  • Dream of the Moro

    Dream of the Moro

    Watercolour and golden foil on paper, 16 × 24 inches each, 2018

    Dream of the Moro (panel 1), watercolour and golden foil on paper, 16 x 24 inches, 2018. A veiled woman dressed in an elaborately patterned dark robe and niqab carries a naked infant in one arm and a structured handbag in the other, depicted in a flat, frontal style recalling South Asian miniature painting on raw, wrinkled paper.
    Dream of the Moro (panel 2), watercolour and golden foil on paper, 16 x 24 inches, 2018. A solitary male figure in traditional dress — wide floral skirt, embroidered boots, and cross-body strap — holds a pistol in one hand and a small red rose in the other, rendered in fine line drawing with minimal colour washes on raw paper.
  • Leaves Are Falling

    Leaves Are Falling

    Watercolour and gold foil on Nepali handmade paper, 24 × 16 inches each, 2018

    Four works in which overlapping figures fragment into loose watercolour blooms of rose, umber, and grey punctuated by gold foil accents that suggest both adornment and dispersal. The handmade Nepali paper adds texture and unpredictability to the surfaces.

    Leaves Are Falling — four works presented together. Each painting on Nepali handmade paper shows overlapping figures fragmenting into loose watercolour blooms of rose, umber, and grey, punctuated by gold foil accents that suggest both adornment and dispersal. Watercolour and gold foil on Nepali handmade paper, 24 × 16 inches each, 2018.
    Leaves Are Falling , four works, watercolour and gold foil on Nepali handmade paper, 24 × 16 inches each, 2018
  • 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
  • The Way of Heaven

    The Way of Heaven

    Tempera on Wasli board, 26 × 18 inches each, 2018

    The Way of Heaven (panel 1) — a large tempera painting on Wasli board depicting intertwined figures in vibrant earth tones and deep blues, sprawled beneath a flowering tree on a crimson ground scattered with decorative blossoms. Tempera on Wasli board, 26 × 18 inches, 2018.
    The Way of Heaven (panel 2) — a second large tempera painting on Wasli board: figures in patterned garments move across a horizontal band of ochre and rust set against a vivid pink field, evoking procession, gathering, and ritual. Tempera on Wasli board, 26 × 18 inches, 2018.
  • Darkness of the Dark

    Darkness of the Dark

    Watercolour on paper, 8 × 10 inches each, 2017

    Darkness of the Dark (series view), watercolour on paper, 8 x 10 inches each, 2017. Five panels displayed in a horizontal row depicting shrouded figures — some seated, some reclining — on decorative rugs. Their bodies are rendered as dense, dark silhouettes with patterned textile details, set against pale, bloodstained washes.