Iris Kumar

Iris Kumar serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Visual & Performing Arts at Curry College. Her academic career centers on traditional printmaking techniques while innovating through the integration of digital and traditional media with painted imagery on canvas and carved wood elements. She maintains an active creative practice documented through her blog and professional exhibitions.

Her research interests focus on:

• Traditional printmaking methods (Intaglio, Lithography)
• Mixed media approaches combining digital and traditional techniques
• Visual metaphors connecting natural cycles to human experiences
• Artistic expression of chronic illness and pain
• Symbolic representation of growth, renewal, and decay processes
• Material exploration through gourds, leaves, hands, and floral elements

Kumar's creative work transforms personal experiences with chronic illness into universal artistic language addressing life's fundamental aspects. Her pieces often feature ambiguous landscapes serving as metaphors for human experience, using organic forms that represent both healing/resilience and deterioration/fragility. She finds aesthetic value in the transformations these objects undergo through various growth and deterioration stages, noting they can be 'awkward, elegant, and even grotesque.'

Professor Kumar is a member of Full Tilt Print Studio, a professional printmaking collective, and has exhibited her work internationally across the United States, Germany, Republic of Macedonia, and Japan. Her educational background includes advanced degrees from the University of Iowa and University of Michigan, providing strong foundation for her technical expertise in printmaking and ceramics.