KOCHI: Namitha Raveendranathan’s artworks are best described as surreally wonderful — be it her manifestations of everyday life in a fairytale land or her recreation of Theyyam with a touch of mystery. Her recent series on women who enjoy life at their own pace, and are at leisure and taking a moment, is a juxtaposition of the modern and the traditional. Women in bright sarees placed amid traditional buildings, donning flowers, drinking tea, reading, flourishing as they await the food delivery executive to turn up is relatable and ambitious at the same time.
She doesn’t leave a single spot on her canvas untouched. Nature, plants and flowers take up the space, enriching the overall theme. Every room, even mirrors are covered in bright plants and flowers with birds flying around freely in the room. The architecture is inspired by the Mughal and Rajput eras. The sarees the women have draped themselves are, in contrast, simple, and perfectly balances the loud backdrop.
“I spent the pandemic period at home, reading and tending to my garden. I started the series to document my lockdown activities. Through my paintings, I wanted to connect my love for all things old school and my comfort in the world I currently inhabit - of books, Netflix and food,” quips Namitha. She fell in love with traditional Indian attire while she was studying in NIFT Chennai. “But the sarees worn by women in my paintings are very bright, not the pastel, dull tones I work with usually. But, the contrasting colour palette is subtly influenced by the Ikat weaving style,” says the artist, who is a fashion designer.
Namitha, who was in love with watercolour paintings, started exploring digital drawing in September 2020. “I was just experimenting initially. But the myriad of colour pallets available, the many brushes, come quite handy. Now I rarely use watercolours,” says Namitha.
For the Inktober festival, she created 31 black and white surreal digital artworks. “I was trained in watercolour painting since I was five. Though I stopped practising to concentrate more on my studies, I never really left it behind. I used to do commissioned works and portraits after I joined NIFT. I continued it while doing post-graduation at NID too,” says the artist.
Namitha paints when inspiration strikes. . “In the middle of creating the series on women, I watched the movie Home. I wanted to paint actor Indrans from the movie without losing any details. I finished the painting at 4am,” she quips.