Abstract

Kolam is a 5,000-year-old art of making geometric floor drawings with rice powder practiced by the Dravidian women of South India. The research presents the construction, types, and uses of an underlying grid system used to make Kolam drawings. The study looks at a grid as a system of proportions used to organize space, compose form, and communicate meaning for an ancient ritualistic drawing practice, as well as an object of performative folk story-telling that holds symbolic relevance preserved over generations of artists. As a design educator, I am challenged with sharing history, methodology, and tools with students that are not confined to the western design heritage. The material expands on the history and application of grids in visual communication by presenting grid systems prevalent in south Asian expressive cultures. The skills necessary to draw a Kolam is passed on from mother to daughter through a mentor-mentee relationship, where young girls learn to work with basic visual concepts such as symmetry, balance, rhythm, form and counter form, and use progression and iteration for the arrangement of geometric shapes to make a symbolic drawing. By thinking through making, the community of Kolam artists keenly play around with natural materials, experiment with form that is at the disposal of all artists, and develop a visual language that is decoded in a socio-cultural context. The research brings together a female-specific canon of South Asian women’s creative heritage inclusive of methods, visual style, materials, and symbolism that is shaped through lived experience and tradition.

Presenters

Anika Sarin
Assistant Professor of Design, Graphic Design/Art, California State University Los Angeles, California, United States

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Designed Objects

KEYWORDS

GRID SYSTEM, FOLK OBJECT, ASIAN, HISTORY, EDUCATION, FUNCTION, FORM

Digital Media

Videos