Her visual language showcases earth as mother

Shalu Juneja, who is an artist by profession learned many things in her profession, one of them is to express herself. Through her recent series, "The Earth Stories", Shalu Juneja has shed light on one of the most significant experiences known to mankind, i.e., Motherhood.

Shalu Juneja's visual language which explores figurative and abstract works, refers to the female form and the earth, as the mother. As giving and selfless as a mother, the earth too continues to provide and nurture mankind despite our ignorant vices.

Her interest in these themes is motivated by her memories, experiences, and interactions in daily life - questioning the impact of words and actions on a mother, in the form of a female body or the earth as a whole.

Her spontaneous mark-making process while painting is inspired by her own observations of the chaos she finds within nature. This often results in accidents within my works, which are a direct reference to the accidental experiences of real life - good or bad. The whole act of mixing unrelated mediums, making gestural marks using unconventional tools and materials, and burning, tearing, or bleaching is a metaphor for humanity and its actions on earth. The resulting artworks are hence dense in their textures and colors.

At every moment, Shalu Juneja's work addresses issues of greater importance. In her own way, she wanted to make a difference in our society and shed light on the power and love of motherhood through the personification of mother earth.

If this series is impactful enough to be carried in your publication, we would love to help you out with additional information. If you'd like, we can even provide an individual description of each part of the series, if not all.

In an exclusive conversation with 'The Hans India,' Shalu shared her experiences and about her 'Uno Lona.' Let's have a look into it.

Speaking about her journey from an art educator to a self taught potter, Shalu says, "My journey is actually the other way round. Painting has been a constant for since my college days and then I ventured into learning different crafts such as Wood Inlay, Pyrography, Stained Glass and then eventually found solace in pottery. Knowing so many mediums was an advantage when I ventured into education as I could offer a programme which gave an opportunity to all my students to express and explore various materials."

Speaking about her 'Uno Lona Academy', She says, "I was running a retail business in decor products when a few students approached me and requested me to teach them art and some crafts. At that time, I didn't take it so seriously. It was my son Harsimran who realised what I was capable of in terms of education and saw an opportunity to start a formal education space that would be different from most that existed. When he pitched the plan to me, I was convinced and we established Uno Lona Academy together."

Me and my son discussed how we wanted to raise awareness about art and design. Shalu says, "When Harsimran pitched his plan to start a new academy, I was convinced immediately because he shared the same passion for art and design as I did. We both discussed how we wanted to raise awareness about art and design and offer students a pathway to pursuing a career in the creative fields. Harsimran had the business knowledge to manage an academy and I had the knowledge to develop courses that could nurture creativity and imagination in students along with skill building. And I believe the partnership worked out in our favour."

Online art education is liberating in terms of reach but limiting in terms of knowledge sharing. "Art and Design are subjects that are very practical in nature. You work with materials and mediums that are 3 dimensional and an online format has its limitations when working with such materials. But online art education at the same time allows us to serve our purpose of creating awareness about art and design beyond the barriers of our physical location, which I really appreciate. In the past 2 years, we have worked with students from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Dubai, UK and USA and mentored them towards pursuing higher education in art and design," Shalu says.

Speaking about the challenges, Shalu said, "I believe the challenge is always discipline. In art and design, students and people in general often assume that creativity comes naturally and that you need talent to be creative. We think a bit differently. We don't deny that talent plays a role in art and design, but if you discipline yourself with practice in art and design just like in a sport, you can create a scenario for yourself where creativity becomes a natural part of who you are. There are tools and resources that can nurture your creativity and imagination and if you're disciplined, they can take you very far in your professional life."