Earth Tones: Painting with Natural Pigments

Presented in conjunction with I, this hands-on workshop led by Nilou Kazemzadeh invites participants to explore watercolor painting from the ground up. The artist will guide you through creating your own smooth, translucent paints using natural pigments, a binder, a glass muller, and a palette. Once your colors are ready, you’ll have the chance to bring them to life on paper. The workshop will also include a demonstration on how to process foraged minerals into rich, ready-to-use pigments, guided by Nilou’s insight into the connection between material, memory, and place. All are welcome—come ready to learn and experiment!

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
Inspired by her upbringing in Potomac, Maryland, her Iranian ancestry, and practices of intergenerational land stewardship that connect the two, Nilou Kazemzadeh’s I Witnessed the Garden Bear Fruit considers the careful labor of cultivation—the hopeful gesture of planting a seed.
Featuring sculpture, video, and works on paper, the solo exhibiton offers meditations on the ways in which connecting to one’s roots can create a space of joy and healing. In this quiet, garden-like space, Kazemdadeh's work embodies memory, heritage, and the mysteries of the land. How does staying rooted in personal connection to place and lineage function as a means of revolt amid isolating sociopolitical systems? How is knowledge cultivated and passed down through generations? What do we choose to carry, and continue to water?
Reflecting upon her latest body of work, Kazemzadeh shares the following,“Each material goes through an act of becoming, through them I am able to locate connections between myself and the world around me. I often think about who I would have been if I was born and raised in Iran—about how radical the action of care is within systems that uphold violent power structures. I imagine a future that is not based on personal gain, but one that honors our bonds with the world around us. When we plant a seed, we know it may never grow, but perhaps the action is more important—that willingness to plant anything, and take care of it regardless.”

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