When we generally talk about Art, we usually discuss, what does it mean?, where does it come from? what is it for? etc, we usually dont reach a definite answer. For me, Art is an expression, feeling, a medium or a way of communicating thoughts, ideas and emotions. This communication can be with thyself at times and sometimes with the beings around. Although how they receive this communication depends on their different perspectives.
This element of life, as I see, embeds in all aspects of our daily dealings.Be it simple chores like cooking, gardening, teaching or more specific like painting, speaking, scuplting, designing etc. But conciously or unconciously it is present in lives of people. We casually refer to it as art of decorating the house, art of cooking, art of writing letters etc.
While exploring some work of artists in the Tools & Technology in Art Education class, one thing that struck me was, how everything is done in a particular manner. It is when done repetitively becomes one’s identity. This identity, most likely has an inspiration behind. We call all of them artists.
My Inspiration
When I see my life in this light, I find myself doing things like my mother has done in her days. The way she keeps the house, they way she sets the table, the way she engages with the younger generation etc. I realise how inspired I am. When I wonder how this has inpired my work unconciously, then I see how I value little things of life in everything I do, teaching, writing, socializing.
My mother’s family were imigrants from India after the partition. They brought the Urdu language with them along with so many cultural ethics. The same has been passed down to generations but I unknowingly felt myself closer to the language Urdu. The ethics of speaking proper Urdu remained a topic of discussion in my nani’s household for years. Sadly it started fading, when she left us for her eternal abode. I clearly remember how our accent and phonics were constantly under observation of my adults. As years have passed, and as we have lost many of those beautiful beings, I see how fragile the language has become now. It has come to a point that it is more of a second language than first in our region. I feel, this has been my inspiration all along.
My inspiration that comes from my parents, especially my mother, keeps me bounded to the Earth and the language Urdu gives me confidence when I am expressing.
Earth bound
In my college days, during my calligraphy lessons, my love for the Urdu script and my emotions attached to the mother earth, in the form of clay inspired me to create my entire exhibition based on it. I used اردو حروف (Urdu alphabets) as the inspiration for all my designs and amalgamated my emotions with clay to create the forms. I observed each حرف (alphabet) as an art piece and drew them as designs. I then gave life to those drawings with forms made of clay.
Years after, when I joined my studies where I left it from, I find myself getting inspired by my initial attachment to مٹی اور اردو (mitti and Urdu). In our studio class, we were asked to select any object which we have an emotional attachment with and then using paper mache recreate an art piece. I didnt have to go searching, as I knew the closest thing to my heart was this earthy kettle that I made from the beautiful bulging shape of ہرف ح ( Urdu alphabet sounding hay).
The hybrid form depicts my sorrow of having very few people left in our community who speak and cherish this language.
I dont consider myself as an established artist. I still have a long way to go, but I am most impressed with very simple people doing big things so simply that they leave a mark or at least a way of looking at things in a new perspective.
Gordon Young
British artist in the field of public art
I am most impressed by the work of Gordon Young. My reasons for connection could be his inpiration from typography. Similar to my inspiration in some way. Gordon Young is a leading artist and famous for his public art. His work is also serving the purpose of benches, pavements, sculputural buildings, climbing walls etc
Upon viewing most of his work, when I came across his work called ‘Wall of Wishes’ , I realised how very very simple thoughts of common people can look so sophisticated and can be awakening in many ways. It made me think about my wish and mine is to ‘remember little things about my life’.
This work has inspired me to collect ‘regrets of life’ from people and display it in a similar form. This I believe will initiate thinking and may be discussions on how many people have regrets, yet they move on and live. Regrets are common. Regrets should be spelled out from the system and allow people to live freely.
Tools & Technology in Art Education 
Extremely inspirational!
LikeLiked by 1 person