KOCHI: Alex Abraham’s illustrations and watercolour paintings narrate the contrast between many lives in the modern world and the rustic, serene, idyllic rural life. However, in both spaces, his characters often look inward or are in deep introspection. Never are they part of the crowd, but instead, away from the surroundings, as lone figures.
“Many have told me that the subjects in my art are always portrayed in solitude, even when they are not. I don’t plan to paint like that always. It happens unconsciously,” says Alex. Rarely will anyone find more than two characters in one of his works.
His illustrations are quite surreal, especially when Alex serendipitously recreates the imageries in his head. When adding colours, he maintains an uncanny balance between dreams and reality. One such thought is his nameless illustration of a heart hanging on a branch like a beehive, and bees flying in and out of it. “It’s just a thought that came to me one day. What if your heart became a beehive, the shape is kind of similar, isn’t it?,” he says.
Most of his paintings are untitled, without elaboration. Though Alex explains it away as random thoughts, his illustrations always make the viewers imagine scenarios and search for explanations. The artist, who is currently pursuing PhD in film studies from English and Foreign Language University in Hyderabad, was interested in art since childhood.
However, it was when he joined an undergraduate course that he ventured into watercolours and started taking art more seriously. “I am interested in studying certain frames from movies. I also paint shots from movies that intrigue me, Aravindan’s movies especially have interesting compositions,” Alex says. However, true to his nature of brevity, he never mentions which of his paintings are inspired by movies.
His recent illustrations were born out of his musings during the pandemic-induced lockdown. In the illustrations, the man stays in his home tending to his garden. However, true to the Alex-style he is not present but lost in his thoughts.
Apart from the ambiguous illustrations, Alex also includes his childhood memories from his hometown in Kottayam. “My home is in a beautiful village. I used to play in a nearby pond. The lush green trees, village life, all of these are frequently present in my illustrations,” he says.
His love for nature is present in his paintings and illustrations. His thoughts are made evident in one of his illustrations of legendary writer Vaikyam Muhammad Basheer —a life spends respecting each being of the earth from ants to snakes to every insect and animal. Alex’s style varies from time to time. From caricature-like recreations of Raja Ravi Varma paintings, vector-style landscapes, Alex has tried it all and is determined to explore more.