AT A GLANCE
Akanksha Chhajer
Area of Practice: Books and Bookarts, Architecture, Spatial Narratives, Printmaking, Ecological Sensitivity, Emotional Intelligence, Mental Well being, Storytelling
OVERVIEW
Akanksha is an educator, designer and printmaker with a passion for bookmaking and book arts. She is easily excited by the little wonders of the natural world and invites her students into this space of exploration. Her work is philosophically rooted in thinking with her hands, a tactile approach that has been part of her life since her earliest memories. Her approach involves exploration through various materials and methods.
Across all three areas as a facilitator, an architect, and an artist, the energy in Akanksha’s work lies in its process and in-depth exploration of ideas. She meanders in pockets between building connections while embracing the opportunities that these seemingly different spaces present.
With an insatiable curiosity and a heart-driven approach, she is constantly exploring methods to build higher emotional intelligence in her classroom spaces and practice.
For Akanksha there is much to love, appreciate, and constantly learn.
EDUCATION
MA in Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking (University of West of England, Bristol UK)
Diploma in Children’s Picture Books and Mental Health (Narrative Practices India, Katmandu)
B Arch ( RV College of Engineering, Bangalore, India)
WORK EXPERIENCE
Freelance Architect (2017 – Current),
Faculty at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art Design and Technology (2017 – Current),
Technical Assistant, Printhause, Cardiff (2016- 2017),
Student Ambassador, University of West of England (2015 – 2017),
Junior Architect, Edgar Demello Architects, Bangalore, (2013 – 2015),
Junior Architect, Khosla Associates, Bangalore (2012- 2013)
INTEREST AREAS
Akanksha, an adult with a growing collection of picture books, is deeply interested in exploring the role of picture books beyond children’s literature, focusing on the power of stories and storytelling to invite people into conversation and sharing. She is fascinated by how the physical form and structure of books inform their content and vice versa. Her interests also extend to developing emotional intelligence in learning spaces and fostering dialogue about mental wellbeing, and encourage discussions. Additionally, Akanksha is passionate about nature, including interactions with plants and animals, and is keen on promoting ecological sensitivity. She believes that nature has the potential to inspire creative thinking and observation. Akanksha is also interested in sustainable practices in architecture and is constantly trying to learn more about this field. She enjoys organising and putting things in order, whether it’s arranging folders on her laptop or books on a bookshelf.
Key words: Books and Bookarts, Ecological Sensitivity, Emotional Intelligence, Mental Wellbeing, Story telling
CURRENT PRACTICE AT SRISHTI
Akanksha currently teaches in the Visual Communication, Project and Foundation Programme spaces at SMI. Working as a facilitator she constructs contextually driven learning through different modules – workshops, ateliers and studio learning spaces. Mentoring young learners through creative problem-solving, Akanksha works with solution-based thinking interspersed with layered narrative and metaphorical approaches. Her facilitation techniques centres around nurturing conversations, fostering independent thought to enable ways of cultivating awareness. She strives to create an environment where learning is a reciprocal process, while holding space with sensitivity and gentleness.
TEACHING PORTFOLIO
Akanksha’s creative and professional slope has been a meandering one, where different aspects of her practices come together. Her formal training as an architect and a printmaker feed into her role and practice as an educator. She sees herself and her interests constantly growing where she discovers and explores new creatives practices. For instance, her interests in books have taken her on a journey of looking at books, their forms and structure. She describes her journey as a slow but enriching one, where she brings all her creative and professional aspects together, but also is not in a rush to merge them. As an educator Akanksha’s practice is a reflective one, and not a practice that is set in stone rather ever changing. As an artist, through printmaking as a medium, Akanksha attempts to simplify complex spatial observations into prints using abstraction. Her goal is to evoke sensory memories working with tactile explorations in her prints. In addition to her artistic practice, Akanksha spearheads an architectural firm which operates on the principle that every client’s expectation, desires, and constraints are unique. This perception drives the foundation of her architectural practice. She handles a range of projects varying in type and scale (residential, commercial, hospitality and retail ). In her free time she likes to experiment and learn different mediums and form of art, read, listens to music, and travel to smaller places where she can be amidst nature.
CREATIVE PRACTICE & OUTREACH
Akanksha, an adult with a growing collection of picture books, is deeply interested in exploring the role of picture books beyond children’s literature, focusing on the power of stories and storytelling to invite people into conversation and sharing. She is fascinated by how the physical form and structure of books inform their content and vice versa. Her interests also extend to developing emotional intelligence in learning spaces and fostering dialogue about mental wellbeing, and encourage discussions. Additionally, Akanksha is passionate about nature, including interactions with plants and animals, and is keen on promoting ecological sensitivity. She believes that nature has the potential to inspire creative thinking and observation. Akanksha is also interested in sustainable practices in architecture and is constantly trying to learn more about this field. She enjoys organising and putting things in order, whether it’s arranging folders on her laptop or books on a bookshelf.
Key words: Books and Bookarts, Ecological Sensitivity, Emotional Intelligence, Mental Wellbeing, Story telling
