THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A child’s mind is an empty canvas where images drawn by parents, siblings, teachers and others in his surroundings get etched, says young painter Reshma Thomas.
Her new series “Imprints” is a collection of paintings depicting the frailties in Indian parenting. After the success of her exhibition in Kochi, the artist has got a couple of invitations from different parts of the country.
“I hope that my paintings will help inculcate a sense of responsible parenting in the spectators. A good majority of adults in our country treat children badly. It is not a familial issue but a societal one which needs to be addressed,” she said.
The less-privileged and marginalised find space in her creations. Her first series was on transgenders, the result of months of studying the community.
“I first came to know about them in Chennai. I had arrived at the railway station since I was going to enrol for an undergraduate course in a city college. They did not frighten me, but evoked curiosity. With the help of an NGO, I befriended some of them. It interacted with them and my curiosity got replaced by compassion for them,” she said.
“I’m a youngster, not an established painter. But I’ve my own convictions. I feel happy when my paintings speak for the silenced and the voiceless people around us,” says Reshma.
Reshma did not have any formal training in painting. She considers her grandfather K K Alexander, an impromptu artist, as her mentor. Her father E T Thomas, is an NRK and mother Jolly Thomas, is a teacher.
Reshma works as business development manager at the Technopark unit of Triassic Solutions.
Travelling is her second passion which provides her new ideas and inspirations.