Unique Exquisite Gold and Gemstone Paintings by Fareen Butt

Written by Darlene Wallace Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:00

NEW YORK, NY.- St. Armand Ventures with Sergio Fernandez de Cordova and Jonathan R. Stein in collaboration with curcioprojects and Mayson Gallery are excited to present artist Fareen Butt’s unique series of crushed gems and semi precious stone “paintings” entitled MIRAGE MOUNTAINSCAPES: Landscapes of Creation. Dominique Nahas, well known writer, curator and educator, wrote an essay to accompany the works. Not your typical oil or acrylic paintings, the entire medium used is a combination of crushed gold, silver, sapphires, rubies, onyx and rare geological minerals such as witherite (phosphorescent mineral) or muonionalusta (mineral from a meteor), with additional precious metal-based pigments. The technique is derived from a synthesis of centuries old Japanese Nihonga, Persian and Hindostani gemstone painting while executed in the Pointillism style of Seuart and of contemporaries like Pousette-Dart.

Fareen Butt is a gemstone painter born in Toronto and based in New York. She has exhibited and created commissioned works internationally. Several prominent collections, as well as museums, have now garnered an interest in her works.

Painting with gemstone pigments has been employed for thousands of years by a variety of artisans from Japan to Persia, in which the medium consists of precious stones and metals. Fareen's work can contain pure gold and silver for example.


The Mirage Mountainscapes (2009 to present) are gemstone paintings based upon sacred landscapes from around the world that include the Grand Canyon, Mount Sinai, Himalayas, and Sierra Nevadas. The artist explains her paintings as - Expressed through the solid, exceptional medium of gemstones and precious metals, the works embody the opulent existence of permanence and omnipresence which permeate these landscapes.

The large scale paintings on exhibit begin with the artist working from aerial photographs of the location which she subtly reduces to an almost minimal definition of cliffs, boulders, sky, scrub brush, shadows and other pictorial elements. Fareen then creates her “paintings” with the application of crushed gem stones and other precious materials. The delicate nuances of the diversities of textures, density of multi faceted colors and the stunning effect of light resounding inward creating an otherworldly glow while simultaneously bouncing outwardly with shimmering brilliance, transcends the obvious materials and imagery. Fareen says of her paintings that they are - Like a mirage on the horizon, there is a more ethereal perspective upon these lands captured by these paintings.

Kaysha Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, just exhibited her paintings at Art Stage Singapore while Volte Gallery, Mubai, will exhibit her at Art Abu Dhabi. Her many international private collectors include the Grimaldi royal family of Monaco. Butt has had numerous exhibitions and has participated in fairs in Berlin, Bogota, Dubai, Islamabad, London, Marrakesh, and throughout the east coast of the US. Twice, she has been invited to the Iranian Contemporary Art Biennale. Born in Toronto, Canada, Fareen now lives and works in New York City.

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