20230924 parul interview ROUGH

Parul Sen and Sarah have been running a pop-up shop in North Melbourne for three months, where they sell their art and run workshops. They have enjoyed the experience and are looking for another similar space in the future. Parul's art focuses on Melbourne buildings, with each piece reflecting her personal experience and using bright colors. She also incorporates feedback from locals to customize her work. Parul plans to continue doing markets and client work, including commissions and collaborations. Yes, my name is Parul Sen and that's P-A-R-U-L-S-E-N, Parul Sen. And we're here in? This place is called Sarah and Parul and I'm the later part of Sarah and Parul and Sarah is my friend who I've collaborated with to share this workspace. And you're here in the pop-up shop on Errol Street and I think this is your last couple of weeks at the moment, is that right? Yeah, that's right. We have two more weeks and unfortunately we have to leave the space and we had the best, best time in the space for three months. It was absolutely incredible. So I think I remember you saying in the article that this is the first time you've done a bricks and mortar type store for selling your art, is that right? Yeah, that's right. We have never had a physical space and this has been our first time having a studio slash workshop slash shop front and it's been such a good model for us because when we are not dealing with our customers, we are doing our own client work and then when we are not doing that, we are running workshops. And it's all of it combined together. We get the feedback from local people, what they want, what they need and so we can customize what we deliver according to their needs and wants. So after you finish up here on Errol Street, do you have plans to look for another similar kind of space together? We would love to. That's what we are looking at right now, not this year. But I think next year, Sarah and I are both because we work really well together and it's good to have someone else because creating art can be so isolating and you can be in your head but when you have someone else to bounce up ideas, it's great. So Sarah and I are both looking at a space where we will again, a similar model but it will be mostly a workshop studio space. Can we take a look at one of your pictures? I'd be interested to hear in your words, you described one of your series of pictures of Melbourne buildings and maybe describe in your words, what we're looking at and what it says about the way that you practice as an artist. Yeah, I think it started really organically. So when I moved to Melbourne from India, nothing about Melbourne inspired me as an artist like nothing because what inspired me back in India was the chaos and this was too organized for me to tickle my creative brain and so for years, I did not create any painting and it was only later when my child started going to school, I would drop him to school and then come back and I would see all these beautiful houses and pick on little details like the cat at the window and because my father was an architect, I've always been drawn towards architecture and the design and little things and that's when I started creating buildings but it was really an organic process and every piece that I create is an opportunity for me to reflect how I see the world. So that's LunchNet and that's my local cafe. When you see the real building, the real cafe, it looks quite different to how I've portrayed it but this is how I see it because when I see that building, I actually don't see any of the clutter, everything makes me happy and so I wanted to use really happy colors that really bring that, really cheer me up. The bright red doors and the complimentary blues and the blue skies, it's a reflection of how I feel when I go to that cafe and it's my personal experience that I've really tried to portray. That's interesting that you have said in this picture, there's no clutter. You were saying that it was the chaos of your home city that inspired you and now you're finding inspiration in something more ordered, is that right? That's actually really true. My brain has switched and I've almost started looking at the simplicity of straight lines and the contrast between the old and the new and the straight lines and the curved lines and portraying it in a very stylized way and a decluttered style. But yes, you're right, they're quite clean lines now. So this is a local cafe for you in Flemington, is it? That's Kensington. Kensington. Could you maybe show us another picture of a building that you've been drawn to? We're looking at the auction rooms here. Yes, auction rooms, that's interesting. So when I painted auction rooms, I had no idea that we were going to get a space right next to auction rooms on the same street as auction rooms. It was incredible. When I was deciding how to paint auction rooms, I knew that I had to include the median strip, which is such an integral part of when anyone's going to auction rooms because they take their coffee, they come and sit on the bench with their dog, with a bag, whoever, and it's all part of it. Yes, that's a good point. So that's an important part of the composition of this picture. You've got most of them that looks like you're standing in the middle of the street looking at the shop front, but here it looks like you're standing on the other side of the street because you've got the median strip in the front. And I see you've got a dog there. That's a greyhound. And so after I had finished auction rooms, and I was really happy with how the building was looking, the tree was looking, and there was a bench, and I knew that I had to include a dog and I did not know what breed of dog to include in that. So I went on to Facebook, North Melbourne Good Karma, and I asked people, what do you think? What sort of breed should I include? Most of the people said greyhound because there's a massive greyhound large dog community here. And then, of course, it had to be in a really beautiful stripy jacket. It's a very iconic North Melbourne dog for sure. Maybe you could just show us one more that really inspired you and tell us what drew you to maybe another part of the city to paint this particular one. Yeah. I think we can go to Market Lane Coffee and it's not a very, I have to say, it's not a very popular print of mine, but I absolutely love it because it gives me the opportunity to really focus on the architectural part of it and how there's this huge contrast between the old and the new, so the old building with the new cafe and the starkness of the white around and the colorful reflection. And every reflection gives me the opportunity to show what's on the other side of the street. And I can add layers and layers in that reflection and I really like that contrast. And it's also a contrast between the digital and the traditional medium. Yes. And speaking of reflections, there's one over here which you've described as a bit of an experiment but it's a really interesting one. Can you describe this one that we're looking at here? Yes. So this is, it's called Order and Chaos and it was inspired by one of the reflections in a shop front in Footscray. And because Footscray is quite similar to how India is to me, it's like there's this massive chaos but there's that order and everybody knows their place within that chaos. That's what I wanted to reflect in this painting. It's got a lot of chaos happening with so many reflections but the colors, the greens and the blues and the yellows, the warm colors, it all brings it all together in one painting. Yes, that's what I tried to show. Fantastic. So could you tell us a little bit more about your time here? I believe you've been running a workshop today. So I had a gouache workshop today and we had seven participants. It was amazing. Gouache is sort of a medium which is like watercolor but it's more opaque and it's far more forgiving. Yeah, I think the people have been absolutely incredible and they have, the feedback that we got from them has been so encouraging. So when we started this place, we didn't know what to expect because we were so like, our suburb is the best which is Flemington, Kensington and then we moved here and we meet these beautiful people who are so inclusive, such a strong community and the feedback that we got was like, we would love for something like this to permanently exist here. So we're definitely looking at something in North Melbourne. If we can, that would be great, absolutely amazing and we absolutely love North Melbourne. And your collaborator, Sarah, has been working on some projects here as well. What are your future plans for the rest of the year and the next couple of years? I do have plans for this year. Next year seems so far away. We're doing lots of markets. We'll be doing lots of big markets like the finders, keepers and big design markets and lots of small markets in between and we'll be doing lots of client work. So while we were at the shop, I felt like I was so, I could not deliver all the work that I had committed to my clients. So now after this is over, I'll just be focusing on all the client work, all the custom pieces, the commission pieces and collaborations and we'll also be creating new series of work for the big design market and finders, keepers. So the finders, keepers and big design both, they have it twice a year. Big design happened in May and there's another one in December and finders, keepers is coming up in October. Thanks for all. Have a great day and it's been great having you here in North Melbourne. Thanks Tom. Thanks for this opportunity. That was amazing. Thank you.