Interview with Rezaul Hoque
Rezaul Hoque is a professional artist, having completed his graduation from the Institute of Fine Arts under the University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Since 1993 Reza has been experimenting and developed a unique technique of his own signature, alongside doing regular and traditional paintings. The innovation created by Reza is painting using heat convection which creates a soft illusion adding an atypical dimension and presenting a different aesthetic. Reza feels that pain is the foundation of creation. Pain and sorrow not only hurts the mind and soul but also gives birth to new thought and thus the foundation of any concept of creation. If this thought process can be correctly driven and handled then it gives birth to a new dimension. He feels that pain in its various forms is the basis of evolution of human civilization. Reza feels that pain is the foundation of creation. Pain and sorrow not only hurts the mind and soul but also gives birth to new thought and thus the foundation of any concept of creation. If this thought process can be correctly driven and handled then it gives birth to a new dimension. He feels that pain in its various forms is the basis of evolution of human civilization. Reza was born in one the poorest districts of Bangladesh at a time when people died of hunger and lack of medical services. Despite the hardship, he felt the simple and honest people of his district faced these challenges with unfaltering resolve and confidence and continued to see dreams of a beautiful life. Reza spent his childhood around these people and strives to depict their suffering and strength through his paintings. Obviously the subjects of his paintings are humans and their emotions. Based on the principle of heat transfer through convection, he creates images that of people tempered like gold who dream of a hopeful future. His work has a strong emphasis on creative techniques. Reza aims to communicate through his images not the abjectness of the people but their strength and dreams. Reza strives to present a new aesthetic while making his painting also thought-provoking.
Can you tell us about the moment you decided to pursue a career as an artist?
In my case, the thought of making a living as an artist was not easy. The family and socio-economic environment I grew up in was not at all conducive to becoming an artist. My family, school and society had no idea that a career as an artist was possible. However, when I started going to school as a child, the illustrations in schoolbooks attracted me more than the writing. I used to secretly copy these illustrations and also painted portraits of famous people. When my friends appreciated my drawings and painting, I got encouraged more and more with time. I was member of a Bangladeshi national children's organization called Khelaghar which had various activities including reciting, singing, writing and painting.
When I was 12, the organization, Khelaghar, held a nationwide cultural competition where I participated in the poster drawing category at the regional level competition. The posters I drew were on child labor and tomorrow’s children of Bangladesh and I received both the 1st and 2nd prize. This achievement inspired me greatly. That was when at the age of 12, I dreamed of becoming an artist. From that time I started to learn about how to become an artist.
What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?
Firstly, I am very careful about not letting praise go to my head and making me proud. It is essential to be humble as an artist.
The good qualities I see myself to possess and strive to maintain are self-confidence, learning attitude, patience, and positive thinking in any situation. Because of these qualities I feel I have been able to get good results out of my bad times.
It is because of these qualities also, that I have succeeded in creating and experimenting an innovative technique. I consider myself a humanitarian artist and I mainly draw people, their continuous struggles, injustices, dreams, and deep emotions. I hope through my artistic journey, to carve out a place for myself in the history of art by establishing my innovative art technique.
What do you want your art to convey to those who see it? What is the meaning or creative motivation behind your work?
I expect the viewer will understand the message of my work, but because of my innovative technique and aesthetic presentation, I want the emotion and message inside the work to be etched in the mind of the viewer inspiring them to take proactive action for positive change.
Creative motivation comes to me when I think of a new work theme, composition, emerging issues and also, I get a lot of creative motivation while experimenting and improving my technique.
Can you tell us about the process you use to create your works? What is your typical workday routine?
My work process begins with a long deep dive into thought. This thought maybe born from the realization of a past event, social interactions, the essence of an experience, the observation of people's emotions, expressions and reactions in ongoing events, the inconsistencies of society, people's vivid dreams or the realization of any book, poem, novel I have read or movie that I have watched. Sometimes it starts when I browse to see the work of other artists. Through this deep thought and brainstorming, I envision the final output of the work and then start the lay-out. When the layout and composition is final, I gather the materials and start working.
I don't have a fixed workday routine. I start when I feel I am ready and with the intention of not deviating from the emotion, feeling and flow I have in mind and I try to finish the work while still having this flow because I think it transfers my emotions to my artwork more effectively. Generally I like to work early in the morning and from evening till midnight.
Where do you find inspiration? What motivates you to create?
It cannot be specified. I get inspiration from many sources. For example, I get a lot of inspiration from chatting or debating with other artists and like-minded friends. Also, I get inspiration from listening good music, watching movies, plays, reading books or viewing good quality painting or photography. And of course life experiences are a major factor of inspirations.
I am mostly self-motivated, challenging myself to experiment and improve my technique. I keep looking at my previous work and thinking about how to improve by seeing other work and by trying out different materials.
What has been your most outstanding achievement to date?
For the last 29 years, I have been experimenting with a unique technique of burning paper through application of heat convection. And being reached out by a US-based gallery to showcase my innovative artwork with them was the biggest achievement. They recognized the uniqueness of my artwork and appreciated the depth of subjects.
From July 1-21, 2022, a collective show titled 'Love in Multiple Forms' was held at the renowned Agora Gallery in New York's Chelsea Art District. 12 artists from different parts of the world participated in this exhibition. This exhibition showcased 4 works of my unique technique and I received huge response from the viewers and art lovers. My decades-long innovation has been recognized successfully on an international platform. This is a really great feeling and I feel it's my best achievement so far. The gallery represents 16 of my works of this technique.
What are your ultimate career goals?
A man is as big as his dreams. I hope to one day I will be able to create my own place in art history by introducing this new technique. To that end, I want to continue to improve my own unique technique and take the aesthetics and content to such a level that famous art establishments and museums around the world will seek to house a collection of my work.
What are you working on now, and what can we expect from you soon?
I just finished a successful exhibition. In the meantime, I have been offered to participate in some more exhibitions and am considering these carefully. Besides, I continue to visit many other exhibitions. I am planning to make new work from the experiences of this time. I have collected some new materials that I will be experimenting with using the Paper Burn through Heat Convection technique. I will test it on a small work first and if successful then I will move on to a larger one. If the experiments are successful, my technique will get another new flavor and reach another more advanced level.
