KOCHI: ‘Did The Coca-Cola Company release a new line of beverages as an ode to the land of coconuts?’ was our first question when we saw ‘ThengaCola’, an ingenious rebranding of the soft drink and our humble ‘thengakola’ (a bunch of coconuts). On digging deep, we found ‘Oru Kolayude Anthyam’ or ‘Death of a Murder’ which featured a bunch of bananas portraying the struggles of a designer. Conceptualising a bus conductor into a ‘kili’ (Malayalam for a bird), substituting a nutmeg as the human brain while captioning the same as ‘Oru Jathi Chintha’ (a distinct way of thinking) and depicting a train coach as a cigarette pack are just a few of Kottayam native Jishnu C Krishnan’s personal projects. His works are both eye candy and soul food.
While art has always intrigued Jishnu, the 29-year-old realised the scope of the subject only after passing out of school. He chose to complete a Masters in Fine Arts from Kochi and was recruited as a visual designer by an IT company. “However, I had to work on a few movie posters when I was a part of Papaya Media in Kochi. That opened an entirely new door for me,” he says.
Abstract art and surrealism describe Jishnu’s work aptly. The advertising art director, who is based in Bengaluru, has worked with the likes of Syam Pushkaran, an experience he describes was rather enlightening. “I’ve always been interested in manipulating the objects I see. My perspective aligns towards art which doesn’t inhibit itself to one medium -- hence the choice of images, videos, AR face filters and VR experiments too. I’ve also been interested in art that contains movement. Of late, my work comprises pop colours too. Initially, art was made for art’s sake. Later, when such concepts became meaningful and relatable, they became viral,” he says.
For Jishnu, ideas matter more than execution. And we can see why. A shampoo titled ‘Shikari Shampoo’, a take on Tinkle’s most lovable hunter, is an exclusive product for your moustache. ‘Carmegham’ (rain clouds), has been depicted in a literal manner -- cars as clouds with buckets of water, ready to ‘spill’ as rain. Where does the inspiration come from? “Just about anything animates me. I’ve always, deliberately or not, wanted to do work that was different, unconventional. People message me saying how my work has influenced them – especially surreal art. This has helped me to create more,” Jishnu adds. The artist is currently working on a movie in his favourite genre – surrealism and fantasy and hopes to make one on the same.