KOCHI: When Maya Gomez had started her career as an architect, she did not expect that she would embrace art as her full-time passion. Now she has about 80 paintings titled ‘Auguries of Innocence’ displayed at the living room of her place in Jawahar Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram.
This architect-turned-artist would surprise her friends on Facebook with a regular upload of her paintings. But her inclination towards art started from a young age itself. “I always loved to draw from my childhood days,” she says. Like most kids, she would draw random sketches of people with all her innocence. But when she grew up and took up architecture as her profession, art had to be left behind.
However, her passion for art was such that destiny led her to art and she became an art and design teacher. “My family–run school ‘L’ecole Chempaka’ in Edavacode decided to follow the Cambridge syllabus where they included Art & Design as a subject. Not only this, I also found time at home to experiment with colours,” she says.
Currently, she has displayed about 80 paintings which are based on a wide variety of themes. “Each painting is based on a different story and is therefore unique in style and theme,” she continues. When she started painting last November, she was unsure about the theme. But, November 1 ended up being her muse. Being the day when Kerala was formed as a linguistic entity, she considered painting the formation of Kerala. Following which, she did a series of paintings on Parasuraman, the sage and women in traditional costumes. “I like to do paintings which are self-explanatory,” she adds.
One of her works, titled ‘Elephants Never Forget’ is imaginative and meaningful. A certain image contains an elephant hook used by trainers to control the elephant. The given elephant looks placid and bears its load. The same picture has a palanquin fallen on the ground which signifies the unleashed fury of the elephant.
The two-day exhibition has been witnessing good response from art enthusiasts. Maya feels that she has gotten a pretty good response despite the flood. “I believe that there si always place for art and beauty,” she says.
The use of mixed colours is what makes Maya’s paintings stand out from the rest. She has conducted many workshops for children. In the future, Maya hopes to dedicate more time towards art. She is a prime example of how passion and profession can be blended together.