Anna Laine Ph.D, Jake McDonald
Create and Colour Stunning Kolam Patterns That Flow Through and Around Dots
Price: £9.99
Imprint: LOM ART
Publication date: 04/05/2017
ISBN: 9781910552728
Subject: Non-Fiction
Category: Doodle & Draw
Binding: Paperback
Size: 250 x 250 mm
Extent: 64 pages
Illustration: Two colour
Territorial Rights: World (All Languages)
Edition Status: Out of Print
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Enquire nowReaders can learn all about this beautiful Indian artform as they complete and create stunning kolams in The Art of the Dot
Art-lovers must follow the step-by-step guides as they work their way through beginner, intermediate and advanced designs
Each completed kolam is a gorgeous geometric marvel that can be coloured in and decorated
With kolam designs contributed by three artists from Tamil Nadu and an introduction from anthropologist and kolam specialist, Anna Laine PhD, readers will soon be experts themselves and can get creative with their own designs
Anna Laine is an independent researcher in anthropology and artistic practice. She has been trained in photography and art, and holds a PhD in social anthropology from Gothenburg University, Sweden. Her relationship with kolam began in 2003, and the practice developed into the focus of her doctoral thesis. The doctoral thesis, titled 'In Conversation with the Kolam Practice: Auspiciousness and Artistic Experiences among Women in Tamil Nadu, South India', includes photographic essays and has been transformed into textile and video works presented at art spaces in Stockholm, London and New Delhi. During Laine’s research on contemporary art and migration within the British Tamil diaspora, kolam emerged as a participatory art project at a suburban shopping area in collaboration with the local refugee centre. When Laine teaches kolam in anthropology and art programmes, she often includes workshops where the students can try the powder material and become more familiar with the practice.
Jake McDonald is a man obsessed with monsters (cute ones of course!). He specialises in creating eye-catching patterns, bold palettes and quirky characters with personality. He began his career as a freelance illustrator after graduating from Brighton University in 2011 with a degree in Illustration. Jake uses both traditional techniques and digital media to create his quirky art.
Kuladevy Elangovan holds an M.Phil in English and teaches English at the Amrita University in Coimbatore. She is enthusiastic about Tamil language and culture, as well as in expanding her kolam skills. In her mother’s house in Chennai she preferred to draw kolams during festive occasions when more time and elaborations are offered. Today, during her married life, she has taken over the kolam making from her mother in-law and creates them daily. During the urban leg of Anna Laine’s research in Tamil Nadu, Kuladevy performed a key role as lead assistant and translator. She has continued to facilitate Anna’s work in India as well as long distance with translations ranging from inscriptions on objects in museum archives, to recordings from fieldwork.
Lakshmi Subbiah lives in Perrungatur, a small community in the rural rice growing area of Tamil Nadu. The main kolam event of the year, the festival Pongal, continues to be firmly grounded as a harvest and fertility celebration with plenty of rice to make designs from. Lakshmi worked in her mother’s restaurant before marriage, but has since then devoted her life to her family. Daily kolam making has been an essential part of this work, but now she gets plenty of help from children and grandchildren.
Rita Gnaniah grew up in Trichirapalli in South India and migrated to London in 1996 to join her husband who has a background in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have one daughter and two sons. Rita works at a nursery, a job she also held in her home town, and she has volunteered at a Tamil refugee centre which supports newcomers in finding their routes into the British system. Kolam is a continuous part of Rita’s everyday life, and she draws designs at her door step during the summer season. She is appreciated as the local expert and facilitated Anna Laine’s research in London. During the public participatory kolam event, Rita had a central role in co-organising and sharing her skills.
