The Natural Resurrection

Narratives in blue by Gunjan Shrivastava

2020 is undeniably going to go down as one of the most eventful and an extraordinary year in history. The pandemonium of COVID-19 caught us off-guard and changed the way of life tagging it as new normal. This new normal indeed brought vivacity to long-overlooked “Mother Nature”. Conceptualised keeping the intriguing observations of natures evolvement through the pandemic, this collection embodies the healing process of the environment and its consequent resurrection.

And whilst the plague known to humankind lies stagnant, it is a marvel to watch nature reclaim and embrace itself; years and years of damage is being slowly healed, as in the short span of three weeks we see the Earth healing itself. The past century left mankind convinced that industrialization is human progress, and that the latter cannot coexist with the natural world. It took for the world to come to a standstill to remind us of the fact that we are, in fact, a part of this physical world. We are suddenly made aware of the notion that perhaps, there is a path for us to thrive without destroying that which surrounds us.

This collection is a call to action. By restoring degraded ecosystems and engaging in co-evolutionary processes, humankind can coexist, and even thrive by developing nature’s wealth. This is our chance to identify it not as a plague, but as a cure.

As an artist, years of my consciousness towards sustainability inspires me to explore cyanotypes which is a beautiful process of natural phenomenon. It is a meditative experience to see the sun as the source of energy, which magically translates my subjects into profoundly soulful works of art. Adding my signature touch to the collection, it further explores the theme of natural decay with broken leaves printed onto the paper, and are completed with embroidery using red fine string. The colour red here symbolizes blood veins. Metaphorically, the print of the leaf stands to portray that the elements present are natural. My body of works embarks on the awareness to restore the belief in redemptive restoration and emboldens better environmental practice to reclaim what is degraded, damaged and destroyed.

 All is not lost…if we care.

Connected

In this series the investigation reveals the fact that everything on the Earth is connected. Everything we do is consequential and has an impact on the earth we live on. This fact pushes us to respect and be consciously responsible of our surroundings.

Earth Matters

Earth Matters is a series of works in progression to ‘The Healing story’, the focus in this series shifts to the Earth. Most works in this series suggest a halo surrounding the earth which leads a metamorphic gesture in the healing of the Earth.

The Healing Stories

The Healing Stories is the initial phase of my collection ‘The Natural Resurrection’. The studies in this series reflect on the healing process of the nature. Each leaf has its own story and its unique footprint. Individually these leaves have been on their own journey into resurrection.