Young Crafts

When Life Meets Art

Promiti Prova Chowdhury
Photos: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

Sumon's work station.

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.”
-Twyla Tharp (American Dancer and Choreographer)

While talking to Asad Iqbal Sumon at his residence, I saw a number of paintings hanging on walls and lying all around. Moving to the next room, I saw exactly what we stereotype as a room of an artist. The haphazard room had only a mattress lying on the floor surrounded by paintings; some finished and some unfinished, jewelleries, paint brushes, cardboards, a violin, a laptop; very critically connected to a jumbo sized speaker, colour buckets, backpacks, tin containers full of scrap materials and things which I barely have any idea about!

Paintings, poems, photography, music of violin, these are the elements that make 31 years old Sumon what he is. But as everyone is unique, what makes Sumon unique is that he makes amazing jewelleries with scraps. These scraps can be ANYTHING that comes to his sight. Parts of a telephone set, speaker or an old walkman! Or, the pink shiny lace that is used to tie up boxes of sweets at sweetshops. Be it a shoelace, nuts of a wheel, scraps of a jute bag, cord of a racket, a bolt, broken parts of a hammer, broken parts of an umbrella, a screw, an eraser, a button and what not! Just shaping up a little according to his imagination, attaching beads of his choice and putting some desired colours, he turns them into unique fashionable pieces.

“Nothing is negligible. Every single thing on this earth has its beauty and utility. We just need to realise and utilise it,” says the eccentric artist. Why am I calling him eccentric? Because, he is blessed with all the characteristics of a uniquely creative person. In his surreal paintings he has mostly tried to discover himself. Happily obsessed with his hobbies, Sumon is opinionated and outspoken. He is not much interested in social interactions. The only way in which he connects with the world is the social networking site-- Facebook.

He keeps on uploading photos of his creations on his profile. Through that he runs his business. The teenagers are the primary customers of his jewelleries. People at their mid thirties are also interested in these things. His jewelleries are always gender neutral. One piece is sold at Tk 200 to Tk 400. According to Sumon, 30/40 pieces are sold in a month. Last year in August, he along with his friends from National Institute of Fashion Technology, held an exhibition at the Drik gallery, where, the response among the young crowd was magnificent.

Currently Sumon is working with the colour red, which he thinks is a very dangerous colour. He names his jewelleries and colours them according to the seasons. Though he gets many orders from people through Facebook, he is not willing to take them as his every piece is unique. He cannot make ten pieces with one design. Sumon has always been non-compromising when it comes to his creativity. “I do not believe in making plans, but I believe in doing whatever I like to do and whenever I feel like doing of,” says Sumon.

Sumon is fond of African ornaments. He likes the simplicity in them and keeps his own creations simple. It has been almost seven years since he got into this exclusive art. Sumon does not have a balanced educational background. However, that does not stop him from doing what he wants to do and cease his passion. In future Sumon wants to open an ornament shop and keep on doing whatever he enjoys!

Asad Iqbal Sumon, a talented young artist.