Jack Austin/Daily Senior Staff
Center of Rangoli created and showcased at the Chicago Cultural Center. Participants filled in large paintings using flour, rice, turmeric, flower petals, dirt and leaves.
Evanston artist and sculptor Indira Johnson will offer Chicago Cultural Center visitors Friday and Saturday the chance to participate in an intricate community art project aimed at promoting peace, unity and celebration. Did.
Over several hours, participants decorated the rangoli with rice flour, turmeric, soil, flower petals and leaves. This is a large traditional Indian floor art piece that contains an assemblage of materials. Volunteers were given the same opportunity on Friday, September 30, when Johnson started the series.
“Some say it’s very meditative,” Johnson said. “Together, you created this beautiful pattern, and I think it’s the realization that people can achieve a lot together.”
Rangoli is an ancient folk craft that employs geometric, floral and religious symbols filled with brightly colored materials. Many people make rangoli as part of Diwali, a festival of lights recognized by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists. Complex paintings are meant to bestow blessings and ward off evil spirits.
According to Johnson, Rangoli’s paintings are ephemeral, fleeting beauty. The Chicago Cultural Center held its closing ceremony on Saturday, sweeping away the elaborate artwork. During the ceremony, attendees discussed the blessings they wished for themselves and their communities.
Johnson is known for his carvings of Buddha heads that can be found throughout the Chicago area, including Evanston. She said her father followed Gandhi’s teachings. That is why she explores non-violence and peace through her work.
(Jack Austin/Daily Senior Staff)
At its core, Johnson’s series marks the 10th anniversary of her multimedia project Ten Thousand Ripples, which promotes public art, peace and civic action.
Johsnon said he has hosted about 30 Rangoli paintings around Chicago and said the project brings communities together.
Martin Bautista said the creative process relaxed him and instilled a sense of tranquility. Bautista said the material made him feel connected to the earth.
The spot where the painting was made features a distinctive Buddha head, which Johnson said he used as a symbol of peace.
Antonio Nino, a California resident visiting his son in Chicago, attended the event and said he enjoyed creating for the sake of creating.
“It’s a special feeling to be doing something for beauty,” Nino said. “I think it’s important and rewarding in that beauty has a purpose in itself.”
Former Chicago Cultural Center spokesperson Kennon Reynard said he appreciates Johnson’s work in Chicago.
When Reynard came to the cultural center on Saturday, she immediately wanted to smell the materials, especially the flowers. said he received
“It reminded me of a mandala…a very organic flower,” Reynard said. “It starts as a central core, sticks out, goes like the earth like the universe, and continues to expand.”
Johnson said that when a community walks on a painting, it reflects the cycle of life.
Nino said the experience of painting is rewarding and that beauty has a purpose in itself.
“It must live and disappear,” said Nino. “beautiful.”
e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @Jack Austin News
Related story:
— Evanston-based sculptor Indira Freitas Johnson puts communities at the center of her art and incorporates Indian influences.
—Multimedia Evanston artist Lucien Dante Lazar creates art from a spiritual foundation
— Makeba Kedem-DuBose’s colorful work explores race and gender at the Evanston Art Center
Comments
Post a Comment