Led by Gunjan Kumar, this workshop focuses on our engagement with nature as we aim to better understand our shared resources and psychological functions in the face of current times. As we work towards this ambition, participants are asked to pause and observe their surroundings, sensitizing themselves to the environment around. They will be collecting materials, preferably natural or naturally derived, from their homes, gardens, alleys, art studios, etc. prior to the workshop. These materials will then be interwoven with techniques, some that have existed for over thousand years, across various cultures and geographies.
By adopting these simple methods of making art, the workshop aims to bring to awareness some of nature’s core principles and our interconnectedness with them. We will be focusing on playing with elements, doodling with nature and more. For each of these activities, relevant examples from history and artworks that use these techniques will be shared. Participants will then be given time for self-exploration.
Materials
Participants are required to think openly, finding freedom in limited resources. e.g. doodling with nature can happen as effectively with twigs from trees, as with gestural painting on wind with fingers. The outcome may result in a physical work of art or a performance. Some mediums that can be used are stones, leaves, clay, soil, sand etc. or any other materials, preferably natural, naturally derived and non-toxic. Potential material list will be shared with each exercise as guideline upon sign up. Intent should be to source most materials from the immediate environment.
About Gunjan
Gunjan Kumar is an artist based in Chicago originally from Punjab, India. She has spent many years traveling through rural parts of India and other countries in southeast Asia, observing age-old practices in art, visiting archaeological sites, prehistoric cave paintings and some of the oldest known schools of art. These experiences form the undertone of her art practice. Her works have been showcased at the Chicago Sculpture International Biennial, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, the Donnelley Foundation, Chicago; Governors State University, Illinois, Exhibit320, New Delhi among others. She is currently working on a collaborative project with American Pakistani artist that presents her responses to exploration of archaeological sites and artifacts in the Sindhu (Indus) watershed, a geographical region extending across northwest India and much of Pakistan. This project will premier at the South Asia Institute, Chicago in May 2021 before it travels to be showcased in New Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan in the later part of 2021.
About the Office of Experience
This collaborative workshop with the Office of Experience (OX) is the first installment in the 2021 series. OX is a design and digital innovation consultancy for the modern marketing age and combines research, strategy, technology and design to help organizations reinvent their business and create next-generation brands, products and communication strategies. In an era of unprecedented disruption, OX is built to transform.