“Many of my paintings feature solitary figures looking at vast landscapes, reflecting on change and uncertainty,” says 41-year-old Kashmiri artist Azim Hassan. “I try to paint erasure. I try to paint such emotional realities.”Time spent in Hangzhou, and now in Foshan in nearby Guangdong province, China, has given him a more nuanced perspective on his native Anantnag. Its panoramic landscapes are now patrolled by soldiers, and older buildings are gradually giving way to trendy restaurants, yet parts of the region seem suspended in time.
A panoramic view of Anantnag in Kashmir.
| Photo Credit:
Amjad Majid
When I visit the Valley over the summer, I find myself seeing its dreamy meadows, water-filled vistas and sombre protagonists through Hassan’s eyes. His body of work — over 200 paintings, exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across India, China, South Korea, Pakistan, Portugal and the United States — is the starting point for a long virtual conversation.An earnest young man with a pensive demeanour, Hassan left home for the first time in 2010. The influence of those formative years is evident in every facet of his work. We discuss the dubb, the old-fashioned wooden balcony that features in his painting, The Dubb and the Nab, but which is no longer seen in the palatial American classical-style houses that are now coming up across the Valley. These architectural details remain integral to Hassan’s ‘dream-like, sublime landscape’ (nab means sky in Kashmiri).
