KOCHI: For Vinayak Jayasree, art is both personal and political. All his frustrations always reflect on his digital paintings, his outrage on the current political environment, his fear and worries about climate change his creations are a commentary on society. Vinayak’s provocative art can elicit a deep response from his viewer.
“I was very bad at studies. My maths teacher hated me and the feeling was mutual,” quips the artists. The caricatures Vinayak drew to poke fun of his teachers formed his first art projects. “She used to make me stand outside the class and I used to draw her as animals using pens and pencils. That’s how I grew into an artist,” remembers Vinayak. The Thiruvananthapuram native was born and brought up in a lower-middle-class family. His mother was a tailor and took care of their little family. He didn’t even know about animation and art growing up. But the daily cartoons that were telecast in DD Metro, a public channel, became his initiation into the world of lines and colours.
Becoming a full-time animation artist was his dream. But it proved to be a difficult choice for Vinayak. “My mother’s first question was: ‘How much salary will you get?’ I was very hopeful and ambitious. So, without any second thought, I told her around `5 lakh. She was relieved and happy. I took a loan and worked many jobs while completing my course in Delhi. But getting a job proved to be harder than I imagined,”he remembers. Vinayak had to work without a salary for more than a year.
His recent drawing of India covered up like a dead body, in white with arms and legs tied, reflects his fear and frustration about the oxygen shortage. “I believe in portraying the jarring reality. If it makes the viewer angry, that is expected. Do this or you might die. It is kind of harsh, I know,” he says.
Vinayak is currently working as the creative lead of Noora Health, an NGO that works to educate and create awareness among healthcare workers and the common population about diseases like cancer and other chronic diseases and even childbirth. Since he works closely with the healthcare workers, Vinayak has seen the real impact of the pandemic on the country.
“The situation is very scary and even in Bengaluru, where I am staying right now, people are not taking it seriously,” he says. Vinayak used to have a Twitter account, where he used to share his art. But it got suspended for speaking up against social issues. But that isn’t stopping him.