Owaw-Arts: Into the world of resin art
There are more than 10-12 professional resin artists in the country and the demand for such artwork has risen since 2020, according to a resin artist
Mixed media paintings are definitely not the most common type of art. And if it is done with resin, it is even rarer.
So when I came across a beautiful piece of ocean art: a runway over a beach protruding into the sea, a 3D model aircraft on it, a model boat in the water, and sand, rocks and even tree trunks to make it look absolutely realistic, I was amazed. It looked like a piece of the real world fitted onto the wall of someone's living room.
At the very first encounter, the quality of the artwork felt world-class. I have seen good resin art on the Internet while scrolling YouTube and was really astonished to find South Asian artists doing similar kinds of work in the country.
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Resin is a highly viscous chemical substance (can be natural as well, but not in this case) used in many applications. When mixed with hardener, well, it hardens and creates the intended shapes. In painting, though, resin is mixed with various pigments and poured onto the canvas. Using various tools like brushes and heat guns, colour patterns are created to transform it into a piece of art.
You can find such great artwork on the Facebook page titled 'Owaw-Arts.' TBS recently reached out to the artist, Ismail Hussein, to learn how he came into the world of resin art.
More surprises were awaiting us. We presumed that the artist would be from some prestigious art institution in the country.
But no, it turned out, he has received only a madrassa education - Ismail is a Hafiz of the Quran, and also a Maulana, meaning he completed a masters-level education from a madrassah.
Ismail Hussein was initiated into the world of art through calligraphy in the year of 2014. Soon, he started selling his artwork. He used a traditional painting medium for calligraphy.
As his hunger for learning something new grew, he expanded his work area to resin work. It started during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Currently a full-time professional artist, he is doing both ocean art and calligraphy with resin.
Ismail is a self-taught artist. Grasshoppers, an art material shop located in the capital's Aziz Super Market came to great help to Ismail. He learnt the basics from the shopkeepers. And then the Internet, particularly YouTube, helped a great deal of course.
Ismail uses resin as his main medium, but also uses real sand, pebbles and oysters to mimic nature.
With no formal training in painting, how does Ismail manage to create such magnificent artworks? Turns out, it is a practice that made this man perfect. And of course, we assume, he always had the knack for painting.
"It's mainly practice. Institutional training is of course helpful, but it is not impossible to learn a skill without it. I learnt by making mistakes," Ismail told The Business Standard.
"My first work was resin paint on a fabric canvas, without any 3D objects. My first work was also sold. I used to buy paint materials with the money I got from the sale. And I improved day by day. Later I started adding 3D details," the artist said.
Growing market demand
Resin work is still little known in the country. But it does have a small admirer base, which is growing.
Consequently, Ismail has taken up resin work as his full-time profession.
The work is done on either plywood or the usual painting canvas. The size varies, and so does the price. Depending on the size, the price of a piece of resin work may range from Tk5,000 to Tk1 lakh.
Apart from resin paintings, Ismail also experiments with table tops and keyrings. The artist also organises workshops on resin work, and people are participating in them with great enthusiasm.
There are more than 10-12 professional resin artists in the country, Ismail said. Since he started resin art in 2020, the demand for such artwork has risen, with more and more people getting acquainted with the art form.
Recently, a resin supplier has organised a resin art competition and called for art submissions.
"Organising regular exhibitions could make resin art more popular in the country, and consequently find a niche in the market," Ismail Hussein said.
