THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Artist and dentist Dr Riya Parveen’s works is a strong testimony for self-taught art. She started drawing while studying in Thiruvananthapuram, doodling geometric shapes and later developing them into structured drawings. Ever since art has been a crucial part of her life and survival. As with many women, Riya also found her college and hostel restricting — the curfews and rules. As going out and enjoying the capital city was not an option for the Malappuram-native, she found solace in perfecting her art. “College was a stressful time. Every night, I used to spent hours drawing. That was the only way, I could relax,” Riya says.
Her paintings are wild, with elements of fantasy. Her imagination runs free, from mysterious starry nights to the fragrance of deep dark woods. “My family wasn’t that supportive of my passion as they feared it will distract me from my studies. Sometimes, it was hard to get art supplies,” she quips. However, that didn’t stop Riya from chasing wonderlands. She started painting on bags, paper boards and any surface she could get her hands on.
“My first wall art was on a clinic my senior opened. Then, people who saw or heard about that work started coming to me to get commissioned pieces done. My Instagram page, which I started for learning from other artists, also receives quite the response now,” she adds.
Riya believes that even while painting with reference, her hands have a mind of their own. It never finishes quite as she plans, and they take over a narrative of whatever is on her mind at the time. “Couple of years ago, many people used to find my paintings depressing. However, for me, my paintings are always a pleasant reminder, it is probably subjective, or maybe they make me less anxious when I finish working on them,” she says.
Her art is also a medium to rein in her overthinking mind. Earlier, she used to paint extensively on sleepless nights. But her life changed from college to now, and so has her art. She paints with acrylic colours on small; canvasses usually, but is not against occasionally getting her hands on an entire wall. “At first, I was scared of painting on a wall. But when I finished the first one, it didn’t seem that hard,” she says. Find her art on @paraveena_