Tajuddin paints metaphors

Continuing pieces: Tajuddin standing next to his painting ‘Homage to Chillida’.

TO FULLY comprehend the artworks of Tajuddin Ismail, one needs to look beyond what is depicted on the canvas and decode the metaphors.

Today is the last day of his solo exhibition “Mind, Matter & Metaphor” held at Segaris Art Center in Publika Shopping Gallery.

What lies beneath the surface of his artworks is a complex labyrinth of time and space, and textural history.

“My works are a reflection of my journey as an artist, it is an evolution.

“When you paint from your heart, it will reveal the person in you,” he said when interviewed during the exhibition’s launch last week.

He added, “If you can write beautiful poetry and move people; I believe that as an artist, I can move people by visual senses.

“I cannot do something to suit others though, everyone has a different interpretation. It is up to one to decipher the meaning of the artworks.”

“I do not paint flowers,” Tajuddin said. Or more specifically, he does not paint flowers just for the sake of painting flowers.

“There is a deeper meaning. Flower is a metaphor for passion, love and remembrance.

“For instance, the flowers in my painting Sufi’s Garden are a metaphor for the sufi’s love for God,” he said.

On his paintings Mosaic and Mosaic II, he said, “Life is a mosaic. You have to juggle many things in life and make it work for you.”

A piece called Summer Breeze stood out from the rest as it is a round painting among other rectangular ones. It is not Tajuddin’s first round painting though.

“I noticed that some of my paintings on rectangular or square canvases have a composition that radiates from the centre, so why not start with a circular canvas?

“Each work is a result of development from earlier works and you can see the connection of ideas.

“My work changes as I change, it is like recording a journey as an artist,” he said.

While some artists stick to certain medium such as acrylic on canvas to create their works of art, Tajuddin uses several such as acrylic, oil pastel, graphite, and cement paste on paper canvas, wood canvas and wood panels.

For example, Strawberry Fields Forever was painted with acrylic and graphite on wood panel.

“The medium is basically just a vehicle. As a visual artist, I use different medium to convey my ideas,” he said.

For details, call 03-6243 1108 or visit www.segaris-artcenter.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/segarisartcenter.

Segaris Art Center, Lot No. 8 Level G4, Publika Shopping Gallery, No. 1 Jln Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas, 50480 KL. Email [e-mail]. Business Hours: 10am – 7pm daily (including weekends and public holiday). Admission is free.