By MELISSA DASSRATH Sunday, September 7 2008

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Nishad Karim's 3-D paintings capture the wonders of the island....

As this artist generously spackles and smears colours to canvas, he rebuilds a glimpse of a landscape that is fast fading into nothingness. Nishad Karim, 33, combines painting and sculpting to design pop-up paintings that virtually jump out at you and make the scene come to life. The illusion of depth is so realistic that it will make you want to reach out and touch it. The unbelievably striking quality of these paintings make them almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

His early inspiration came while growing up in the sleepy setting of St Helena Village in Piarco where his mother sparked his creativity: “I just always enjoyed art. My mother was definitely an early inspiration for me. She was into interior decorating and got me thinking about shades and patterns and materials.”

Karim is a final year student at UWI and in November he will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Special Degree in Visual Arts with first class honours. He explained that before university he had no formal training in art and put together a raw portfolio of pieces and was lucky to be accepted on the proof of his potential alone.

The extensive degree programme covered just about every artistic medium you can imagine. “It was not just about painting. The modules ranged from art history to animation, film and video production, design and so on.” Since then, he has been painting out of an on-campus art studio shared with a few other art students. He has been doing more than regurgitating different forms of art, though. All the while he has searched for his artistic niche and a way to convey something meaningful.

His thesis entitled “The Fading Landscapes of Trinidad and Tobago” entailed comprehensive research into the now antiquated architectural designs and construction technique once used to build the structural marvels like the cocoa houses of the Lopinot Estate.

“This technology and the tools used were so specific to the architecture. They are abandoned now and as the older generations die out the knowledge which was innovative then dies too. And similar to the focus of this project, I feel a crucial aspect of our culture is being lost. This is something that another great local artist Alfred Codallo hearkened to with his famous paintings about characters of our dying folklore like the Papa Bois, Soucouyant, Douenes, La Diablesse and Lagahous. I chose to capture the places that are vanishing.”

The upcoming painter also admires the works of other local artists such as Lisa O’Connor, Jackie Hinkson, JMW Turner and Karen Sylvester for their distinctiveness. He said he has tried to emulate his role models without imitating their signature styles and artistic concepts. “As an artist I really admire when you look at a piece and you immediately know who the artist is just by the brush strokes and tone. I really wanted to bring something new to the realm of landscape so I started experimenting with textures and paints to build a 3-dimensional image on the canvas. I used sawdust, wood, cardboard and metal to simulate different elements in nature.”

He prides himself on pioneering this technique of fusing collage with landscape painting which he calls “collage montage”. He, however, described his style as a realist impressionist style combined with mixed media.

The man who has a love affair with the arts has spent the last 13 years of his life teaching full- time at a primary school, but that did not stand in the way of him pursuing a career as a working artist.

“You really can’t force painting, but at the same time you can just pick up a brush and just start painting otherwise you’ll be very inconsistent. When I do catch that flow I can paint the whole day away without even realising it. I just have this intense focus and the colours mix perfectly and the lighting is right. But other days I can’t seem to get it right. When I do it’s a marvelous thing.”

“You must decide what you want to paint. Most artists will research how other artists have represented the same idea in the past and see how you can do it differently. You cannot reinvent the wheel but you can try to make your work stand apart from the copies. A series of paintings usually revolves around a theme. It is important to merge theory and history around what you are painting because a painting is not just a thing of beauty. It is meant to be emotive. I also add the physical dimension so people can interact with my paintings.”

Another important feature of Karim’s artwork is that he does not have it framed. “Unlike most artists I prefer to leave my paintings unframed. I want my work to extend far outside the painting. I really like to create a sense of intuitiveness and encourage the audience’s interpretations. I want them to be free to let their minds wander and I welcome people wanting to touch the surface of the canvas.”

Karim has been active in all aspects of art and has worked closely will several leading local artists. Between 2004-2007, he worked with Camille Selvon Abrahams at the Animae Caribe: Animation and New Media Festival, during which he produced elaborate chalk paintings and beautifully reinterpreted and recreated the 2006 Animae Caribe logo.

His paintings, sketches, designs and a short film were well received at an exhibition in the National Museum and Art Gallery, Port-of- Spain which was held last year May. Attendees also raised a toast to his talent when he presented his collection at the More Vino Restaurant earlier this year. Two weeks ago, his work again garnered rave reviews when they were displayed at a private viewing for Clico staff at the Chaguanas branch. Clico representatives were so stunned by the elegance and exactness with which Karim’s images limned our local landscape that the agency manager, Naidu Powdhar, boldly purchased the entire lot of pieces on the spot.

Selling one’s artwork really establishes one as an artist, but just when his success is taking off so is he. Karim only last week migrated to England to reunite with his wife and with the goal of pursuing either a Masters of Art in Fine Art or, possibly following in the footsteps of his mother and going in the direction of interior design. “I always planned to go to England to further my studies. I have given a lot of thought to doing my MFA in something that will allow me to broaden my scope and make me more marketable rather than just limiting myself.”

He has not completely retired his palette and easel, though. He will continue to work on his new collection “Crossings” which will depict the nature of change: “Whether it is a life change or the country’s rate of development crossing over from a third-world status to first-world status. I will focus of the transition from one stage to the next.” Once completed Karim promises to return home to Trinidad to exhibit his work.