KOCHI: Meera Sujai, a mural artist, felt so relaxed when Vivekananda Park at Thiruvananthapuram reponed on Monday after renovation. She was working around the clock for the past one month to complete the mural art to be installed at the park. “There is not much work left and it will only take a week more to do the final touch,” says Meera.
Since childhood, mural artwork has always inspired Meera. Though she wanted to learn it long ago, the opportunity came to her two-year ago. Being able to do a mural art at a public place is a dream come true moment for Meera.
“I was only trying my luck while meeting Mayor V K Prasanth to talk about my interest in doing a mural art in any of the public premises. But I never expected to got an opportunity to do one,” remembers Meera. Mayor wanted her to come up with a mural idea which is different from the common portrait of Vivekananda. “Thus after continuous research on Vivekananda, I narrowed down to his Kerala trip,” she adds. To portray the South Indian visits of the Swami, she met a lot of people to collect pictures as well as to get a deeper knowledge of him.
Though she asked for three months to complete the work, she finished it in a month. “While painting she will be in her world. She will not even feel our presence,” says Sujai, Meera’s husband, who is a constant support for Meera.
Remembering childhood days, Meera says, “I vaguely remember sketching in my childhood. But my parents used to say they get me a lot of clours and I was much interested in painting. But my only memory of drawing is sketching senior secondary class records of mine and my sister.”
“I tried to take photographs at photography prohibited areas to make the picture as a model to my paintings. I just need a picture to follow a mural art,” she says about her initial days in mural art.The artist took classes under a lot of mural art teachers including Nancy Fernandes, G Azhikode and Prince Thonnakkal.
“I prefer to train under different artists as I get exposure to different styles and techniques. This helps me to adapt the best among each of teachers,” she says.