Folk Art of India

Students were introduced to traditional Mithila and Madhubani Folk Art as well as the work by the contemporary artist, Dr. Rani Jha. Two Indian students in the class, sisters Monika and Shalini Mehta, were the guides in honoring the folk art of India. They grew up surrounded by this work and were surprised and excited to dive into this style of art. We discussed the subject matter as a class and some students wanted to embrace the love of flora and fauna and others wanted to create a figure. Students discussed having a design theme move throughout each section. This class was disrupted by the pandemic in the Spring of 2020. The forms were made but were not glazed until Spring of 2021. While glazing in the Spring of 2021, the group decided they wanted to create a Folk Art of India Mural to go with the ceramic pieces and birds to fly in the trees. They created the drawings for the murals in Spring of 2021 and implemented them in the Fall.

The most remarkable thing about Dr Rani Jha’s artwork to me, is her ability to create so much detail and incorporate so much color without making the pieces look overwhelming and cluttered. Her work is bold but it also works so harmoniously. I did not want to recreate work that was not traditional folk art as well as something that was gentrified. I wanted the piece to be authentic and approved by Shalini or Monica. Luckily for me, I was able to work on a piece with Shalini and we were two of the three who made the woman on the totem pole.

This project is very close to my heart. Thank you for giving me and every Indian student a representation on our campus. It is very exciting to learn about other countries, their culture, people and art. In the past, I have enjoyed diving into other cultures through the artists that we have picked for our totem poles. It is fascinating how art transforms when it is personal, speaks the artist's language. What may seem to be a random work gains deeper meaning when we make the effort to find the person, the story behind it. Although I was aware of the Madhubani art form and even own a couple of Madhubani paintings, I never bothered to really go behind the scenes, to learn more about 'the making of' these paintings and the stories behind them. The most exciting thing I learnt was the strong feminist voice that permeates the modern artwork. I love the fusion of old and new, of subtly introducing a new language while preserving century old traditions.