KOCHI: Adorning walls of houses and government offices with Kerala mural paintings has become a trend in the recent times across the state. But, Sushila Prakash from Tirupur is making mural art popular in states like Tamil Nadu by conducting workshops. She is coming to Thiruvananthapuram next month to conduct a workshop being organised by Space. Sushila hopes to teach the participants the basics of mural painting and how to use colours while composing a painting. This is the first time Sushila is conducting a mural painting workshop in Kerala.
Kerala mural paintings depicting Hindu mythology and legends that can be seen in ancient temples were done using natural colours. All these features prompted Sushila to dive into the world of mural art 25 years back. “I was always interested in the textural and sensory wonderland of murals that populated temple walls. Also, I noticed that very few artists outside Kerala attempted the fine artform. I was interested and wanted to try my hand at it. I underwent formal training in mural painting from Krishnakumar, who was a master in Kerala murals and the principal of the Institute of Mural Painting, Guruvayoor,” says Sushila.
An advocate by profession, she learned the art and started conducting mural painting workshops in cities such as Chennai, Mumbai and Tirupur which she says helped hone her skills. “Though mural were created using natural colours centuries ago, nowadays artists have started using acrylic colours on canvas. This includes me, making natural colours is a difficult process,” says the artist.
According to Sushila, People have started buying Kerala mural paintings depicting Hindu mythology for gifting people. “It has also become part of interior decorations in corporate offices and other buildings. Traditional murals depict gods and goddesses but these days, artists have started introducing contemporary themes,” she adds.
Besides mural paintigs, Sushila also dabbles with decoupage art on bottles, wood and other materials. She is also one among the 200 international artists who participated in the International Mural Artists Camp in the year 2013 in Kottayam. Sushila was further selected to participate in the ‘National Painting Exhibition 2018’ held in Lalitha Kala Academy, Chennai, organised by Pondicherry Art Akademy.