KOCHI: When it comes to art, people have been experimenting with various materials and mediums to express themselves. From glass and feathers to stones, there has been no dearth of materials for artists.
Vinod E M, however, is dabbling with an unconventional art medium — roof tiles. The 39-year-old brings out Kerala’s aesthetic on ‘pokayodu’ or roof tiles that were commonly used in place of chimneys in the olden days.
Using bright acrylic hues, Vinod carefully paints the images of Kathakali, Bhadrakali, Theyyam, and Buddha, the spiritual facets of culture.
“The earthen chimney tiles have a semi-circular part that protrudes out, that’s where I paint. I think it helps capture the grandeur of the art forms easily,” says Vinod.
“Also, I focus more on such faces on ‘pokayodu’ as people are interested to see the cultural and ritual forms on unconventional objects, especially tourists.”
Vinod hails from Aluva and studied painting at Prathiba School of Arts around 23 years ago. Since then he has been pursuing his passion through pencil drawings, charcoal paintings, and acrylic.
He started experimenting with ‘pokayodu’ around three months ago. Being someone who focuses mainly on portraits, Vinod finds paintings on tiles to be more alluring. “Portraits, especially of art forms, can be captured correctly on roof tiles. The other human faces are a bit difficult to etch on the protruded portion. However, I plan to paint human portraits too on them,” says Vinod, who works as a video editor at the Kerala Vision channel in Paravur Though Vinod claims painting on roof tiles to be easy, he says shading on the same is very difficult. “Painting the exact form is easy, but giving the light effect and shading on the image to create an impact is a bit of a task,” he adds.
Vinod’s ‘pokayodu’ artworks are bought by people as interior decor and gifts. Many usually contact him directly for works and his father also helps in selling his paintings. “For years, my family has been involved in selling pottery. So when my father goes to festivals and other occasions for his business, he would also take the paintings along with him,” says Vinod.
He also displayed his creativity at the Aluva Manappuram along with his father’s pottery and managed to sell a good number of products.
Through his colourful artworks, Vinod also intends to preserve the tiles that were once common in Kerala. However, sourcing pukayodu is difficult nowadays.
“Since most of the houses have concrete roofs, it is difficult to source such roof tiles. So I depend on the old houses that are demolished. The lack of availability of the material is a threat to continuing the work,” says Vinod.