"Painting is an art. And art is a power that should be aimed at developing the soul. If art does not do this job, the abyss that separates us from God is left without a bridge," said Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. Art possesses the ability to generate spiritual strength, provoke deep thought, and reveal timeless truths. It is intrinsically intertwined with time and space as without them art would cease to exist in a lasting manner. Art has the power to nourish and expand our inner selves, cultivating our aesthetic sensibilities and enhancing the overall quality of our humanity. By enabling us to truly live and imbuing our lives with significance, art elevates our cultural and social standing. Moreover, art is intricately linked to our economic and cultural environment, shaping and being shaped by the revolutionary changes in our cultural, social, political, and economic structures that constantly reshape our souls.

Mohammad Eunus, a celebrated artist, captivates me with the immense power, truth, and revelation that emanate from his paintings. His artistic style involves depicting romantic landscapes, nostalgia, social turmoil, and primeval mythological motifs. Eunus begins by placing his canvases on the floor or easel, where he throws, flicks, and drips paint onto them. He then skillfully minimizes the amorphous forms and shapes, creating an aesthetically balanced appearance. As a keen observer, Eunus closely examines the ever-changing socio-political and economic conditions of his country. Through his manipulation of forms, scattered muted drawings, and deliberate brush strokes, he creates a language that is both natural and contrived. His palette oscillates between mellow and bold, while his brush strokes range from rugged to controlled, conjuring a visual playground of joy and ecstasy. Eunus's paintings travel between both inner and outer space, intuitively capturing a complex reality that defies verbal expression. It is this quality that establishes Eunus as one of the most dynamic artists in the art scene of Bangladesh. Currently, he primarily expresses himself through pure abstraction and abstract expressionism. He frequently alters the arrangement of his forms and compositions as well as the overall structure of his paintings, which encompass various mediums such as oil, acrylic, and mixed media on hardboard, canvas, and paper. While oil is a challenging medium rarely used by our painters, Eunus skillfully overcomes its obstacles. Since the beginning of his career, he has worked with oil to harness its profound impact. This medium also allows him to create a sense of serenity. For Eunus, oil provides unparalleled flexibility and creative freedom compared to any other type of paint.

The artist's paintings exhibit a harmonious connection evident in the lines, forms, and textures, which reflect his unique style. Additionally, he often explores the limits of expression using various geometric and architectural shapes. The artist incorporates squiggles, uneven lines, arrows, broken lines, loops, curls, squares, ovals, and other elements in his works. He has diligently undergone multiple phases of experimentation with colors, textures, lines, and tones. Eunus considers the medium to be of great importance in his artistic expression and enjoys experimenting with different mediums.

Eunus's paintings vividly showcase his affinity for vibrant colors, which effectively convey the inner intricacies of concrete forms. Additionally, the artist consistently explores various materials, utilizing them abundantly as a defining element in his artwork. This experimentation stems from his desire to delve into the dimensions of these materials. Eunus takes pleasure in identifying himself through the skillful and harmonious use of these materials, which adds a technical brilliance to his creations. He strives to maintain a distinct style that has become his personal trademark. By blending sensation and intellect, he employs abstract expressionism to create paintings that exude brilliance and dynamism, thanks to the abundant use of rich hues and evocative textures. Eunus captures the chaos of our contemporary world through a burst of intense colors layered with contrasting elements, thus creating a palpable sense of texture in his abstract expressions. Furthermore, the artist meticulously combines the essential elements of his paintings, resulting in multiple interpretations that may evoke mysticism, harmony, melancholy, or despair. Although his mode of expression has evolved over time, Eunus has successfully established a unique, individualized, and expressive style that resonates with viewers. Within his paintings, one can sense the lament of a solitary soul, an underlying sorrow, or a feeling of emptiness.

Eunus believes that drawings are a reflection of an artist's thoughts, inner world, and the essence of their daily life. Through his works, he presents his unique perspective of the world and captures the essence of what he has observed. His paintings serve as a reflection of his state of mind, showcasing modern modes of expression through various structures such as ovals, circles, doodle forms, symbols, triangles, rectangles, and lines that dominate the canvas. Additionally, his works incorporate geometric structures and architectural views, offering a fresh perspective. Cracked columns, damaged pillars, crumbling walls, rusty pipes, broken guitars, wheels, shattered windows, slabs, and scattered papers are recurring elements in his art. Eunus also incorporates motifs such as ancient buildings, cacti, vessels, hills, and the sky in his paintings. Some of his works emphasize pure composition, highlighting his skill in creating harmonious arrangements.

Eunus, despite residing in Japan for an extended period to pursue higher education, has not been directly impacted by the art of the country. Japanese art is renowned for its gentle hues, understated expressions, and precise lines and shapes. However, Eunus's artwork distinctly conveys the challenges faced in our contemporary era. His paintings often emphasize feelings of melancholy, bliss, conflict, and unstable emotional states. Through his work, he endeavors to create a psychological narrative, aiming to depict not only our physical appearance but also our mental, emotional, and spiritual states.

Eunus becomes completely absorbed in his paintings, losing himself in the process. He is known for his courageous approach of discarding his painstaking creations if he deems them unsatisfactory, in order to start anew. The world of painting envelops him from every angle, and he shows no signs of relenting. Instead, he is compelled to infuse life into each and every painting he creates. Eunus applies colors, shapes, lines, and compositions with great care and dedication. Layer upon layer of paint is added, and forms and objects are continuously drawn until he feels a sense of accomplishment. The end result is a contemplative and harmoniously balanced arrangement of colors and space that never fails to captivate the eyes of art enthusiasts.

Eunus, a contemplative and intellectual artist, draws inspiration from various elements of our surroundings and different aspects of environments. He enjoys experimenting with both color and material, exploring their diverse facets. As an experimenter, Eunus takes pleasure in uncovering the unique characteristics of different materials. By utilizing a range of materials, he is able to create something innovative and rejuvenating. Eunus carefully prepares the canvas, creating a specific foundation. He applies color directly, layering thick and thin coats according to the canvas's needs. At times, he etches the canvas using various tools and nails to produce an uneven surface and amorphous forms. The rough foundation aids in absorbing color and achieving the desired texture. Subsequently, he applies color and further engraves the foundation to discover his intended imagery. The layers impart a distinct quality to Eunus' work, and he has always focused deeply on the application of color and the use of materials. The deep layers of color lend a unique characteristic to his canvases, and his paintings convey an expression that builds upon the essence of color and its true meaning. Over the years, Eunus has developed this technique, which is both costly and time-consuming, demanding immense effort and dedication.

Eunus aims to capture the often overlooked beauty of our environment and the fleeting moments of nature. He draws inspiration from the unique colors found in nature, using them as the main themes and shapes in his artwork. In some of his paintings, he portrays walls that are damp or affected by salt, with cacti or blooming flowers growing from them. These elements symbolize the ever-changing and unpredictable nature of life, as well as the harsh realities, injustices, and societal and political issues that exist in our world.

Eunus demonstrates a remarkable attention to detail in his use of space, while the painter skillfully captures texture in accordance with the aesthetic requirements of the paintings. The artworks convey emotions and sentiments in a way that clearly indicates the artist's desire for universal understanding, albeit in a non-representational manner. The painter employs vibrant colors such as azure, yellow, emerald green, mauve, and crimson. It is evident that his focus lies on colors influenced by nature, which adds a captivating element to his works, where colors take on various intriguing forms. Many of his images are filled with intricate droplets and scattered patterns, set against a vibrant backdrop of colorful images that defy explanation and must be experienced. Each line, dot, sprinkle, and intense color on Eunus' canvas evokes distinct moods and emotions.

Eunus has recently embraced collage as a medium once again, providing him with a fresh avenue for artistic expression. In many of his collages, he incorporates golden paper and silver coated metal, adding a unique and novel aesthetic to his work. Throughout his career, Eunus has engaged with this medium at various points in time. During the mid-1990s, he created several collages before taking a long break. However, he has now returned to collage with a repertoire that showcases his technical excellence. Eunus' collages feature materials of different sizes, including rectangular, vertical, horizontal, oval, half-curved, and oval-curved shapes. The artist incorporates various symbols into his collages, adding depth and meaning to his compositions. Notably, Eunus employs a dramatic space division technique, with larger areas kept flat and smaller sections adorned with intricate patterns. It is evident that the artist has dedicated a significant amount of time to create the illusion of space within his artwork.

Eunus alternates between different mediums, periodically revisiting his subject with a revitalized curiosity and a desire to offer a fresh perspective. Over the past few years, Eunus has been exploring various types of papers, rough fabrics, tin scraps, and other materials in his collages. Among his choices are corrugated boards, canvas fragments, rag paper, decorative papers, wooden pieces, and sandpaper, to mention just a few examples.

The inception of modernist collage can be traced back to the cubist painters Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. Picasso was the pioneer in incorporating the collage technique into oil painting, while Braque adopted the concept of collage earlier and applied it to charcoal drawings. Surrealist artists have also embraced collage as a prominent artistic method. Eunus, in particular, has demonstrated exceptional skill in executing collages, offering viewers a fresh visual experience. The addition of molding paste has contributed to the textured relief in many of his collages, resulting in thick impasto layers, particularly when combined with other materials.

Eunus' collages showcase a variety of materials in different shapes and sizes, including rectangular, vertical, horizontal, oval, half-curved, and oval-curved. The artist incorporates numerous symbols into his collages, adding depth and meaning to his compositions. The way he divides space within his artwork is striking, with larger areas kept flat and smaller sections adorned with intricate patterns. It is evident that Eunus dedicates a significant amount of time to create the illusion of space in his pieces.

Eunus possesses a unique combination of being a workaholic and a scholarly individual. Throughout the years, he has persistently engaged in experimentation, constantly pushing the boundaries of his artistic practice. He meticulously explains the forms and compositions he employs, giving them a fresh and innovative significance. With each new exposition, Eunus presents a distinct perspective, always seeking to explore something new. He firmly believes that art can be enriched through continuous experimentation, as it breaks the monotony and opens up new possibilities.

The writer is an art critic and cultural curator.