Inside the mind of an artist

Ghazali Moinuddin is a firm believer in French artist Henri Matisse’s famous quote — An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success. Little wonder then that the Delhi-born artist Moinuddin feels an artist can never get inspired as it means getting into a pre-planned situation and ending creativity. “An artwork will never be a masterpiece if it has been thought about beforehand,” says 41-year-old Moinuddin, who is associated with New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia.
Recently, one of his paintings got selected for the Hall of Fame in a museum in Tehran, Iran.

Talking about it, he says, “I was informed by the museum administration that they did a Google search and found my paintings ‘different’. And that they wanted a few of my paintings for an exhibition. Later, the Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) honoured me by selecting my painting for the Hall of Fame in their museum.”

But what makes Moinuddin ‘different’? Well, he doesn’t use brushes to create paintings but works on his chosen medium, acrylic on canvas, using his fingers. “Not using brushes is out of choice. And this choice is due to my temperament as I like working quickly,” says the artist, who depicts nature in abstract, semi-realistic forms through his artworks. “For me, peace of mind and energy are depicted through my works. And there can be nothing better than nature to depict it,” the artist adds.

At the world’s largest event of art in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, last November where Moinuddin was the only Indian among artists from 180 countries, representatives from several countries requested him to take workshops of young artists on the technique he applied to paint. “It was a great experience,” shares Moinuddin.

Born and brought up in Delhi, Moinuddin completed his MFA from Jamia Milia Islamia in 2001. “My father wanted me to become an engineer like him but I could not keep pace with the science stream so one day, I gathered courage and told him I wouldn’t be able to continue it further. This was despite the fact that I had got a seat in electronics engineering at Jamia. I, like most of us, loved art since childhood days so I enrolled in a BFA course in 1995. Thereafter, I completed my MFA in 2001. Soon after, I got appointed as a guest faculty at Jamia and later got permanent in the school sector,” shares Moinuddin.

But it was on the advice of associate professor Mamoon Naumani, Department of Fine Arts & Art Education, that the artist took up painting professionally. “He did not want me to waste my talent only teaching. So I requested him to be my mentor and he agreed. Since then, there has been no looking back.”
Moinuddin held his first solo in 2008 with his next in 2013. “In 2014, I did a grand show at Jamia and one at Habitat in 2017. Thereafter, I kept doing shows across the country.”

Moinuddin feels restless when people ask him what he wants to convey through his works. “I believe the creative aspect gets spoiled if an artist is trying to convey something. Paintings are pure imagination. Their originality is about an artist’s thought,” adds the artist, whose works are a tribute to god’s creations, representing harmony and balance constituting the natural world. He also advises young artists to not get inspired and copy master artists. “If you copy, you have no existence. How can you be dependent on someone else for your existence?” he asks.