Art Exhibition: Reconstructed Nature

This free exhibition showcases a series of words titled Reconstructed Nature, in which British Bangladeshi artist Mumtaz Begum delves into the obscure and beautiful aspects of the natural world. By deconstructing these elements and reimagining them, she invites viewers to engage with nature with fresh eyes. Her aim is to provoke thought and evoke beauty, encouraging the audience to question the very essence of what we consider nature.

Mumtaz creates intricate paintings using acrylic ink and quill on paper. Acrylic ink is a very unforgiving medium, as once you have committed to something on paper, there is no going back. Although mistakes can happen, she never sees them as such, but instead as an opportunity to go down another path. 

Her love for pattern is rooted in her Bangladeshi heritage from growing up in a south Asian household and spending a lot of time in Sylhet as a child. Spending time in a country where everyone wraps themselves in artwork, beautiful block print sarees of every colour and pattern imaginable has stayed with her. These memories weave themselves into her work during her intensive stylizing process. By altering the original forms and shapes to find new ones, her inspiration takes on a life of its own, appearing vastly dramatic in comparison to its original state making something new for the viewer to discover.