Art Junction Director and Rockwoods High School Art teacher Chiman Dangi arranged an opportunity for visiting New Zealand Artist Brydee Rood to develop a new mural with the talented art students from Rockwoods High Udaipur.

Rood has produced several site-specific installation and performance projects in Udaipur, Rajasthan and wider India during the past 3.5 years. This new project: Action Painting with Brooms was directed by Rood and undertaken by local art students working collaboratively.

A core group of Class IX students, Paridhi Singhania, Veenita Bandwal, Khushank Sharma, Kush Jagitia and Vishwas Dhabhai lead the murals creation. They were assisted by Class VIII students, Kritika Bhaswar, Sneha Anand, Kajal Chundawat and Mansi Purohit. The painting evolved over a weeks’ timeframe during which many students joined the project and left their mark.

Action Painting with Brooms was made using an assortment of recycled old sweeping brooms and cleaning brushes replacing the traditional paintbrush to highlight the action of making a clean environment and effectively transforming the wall with energy and color.

The process created a rich vibrant color field bursting with the lively lines, marks and textures of the different cleaning utensils and the bold original strokes of the students. The final stage was completed using 100’s of small round mirrors like stars reflecting the 3-dimensional space in the color field. These mirrors were applied by the hands of around 70 excited young students to catch light and reflect action in the school for years to come.