Born in 1980, I belong to Veloor, a small village in Thrissur District, the cultural capital of Kerala. Mr.
Veloor Johnson, a native of my village and a tutor in Sculpture at Sree Sankaracharya University of
Sanskrit, Kalady, moulded me recognizing my talent. It was my childhood passion to become a great
painter. My wish was to get admission in Fine Arts College after primary education. The basic
qualification was Pre Degree for joining the Fine Arts College and hence I joined for the Pre Degree
Course at Sree Krishna College, Guruvayoor. After a year, I got enrolled in Foundation course in Painting,
which is equivalent to Pre Degree, at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. Though I got
admission for B.F.A in Fine Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram, I continued at Sree Sankaracharya
University of Sanskrit, Kalady due to severe financial constraints (2001). I passed out from the university
in 2005 with First Rank and then proceeded to Calcutta with the hope that I would get admitted to
Santhinikethan for further studies, a hope that did not materialize . I worked with Environmental
Design Project till the end of 2006 , project for Surya’s Marine L.P.G Kit Company at Sreemoolanagaram
near Kalady. Then I joined for M.F.A at Government R.L.V College of Music and Fine Arts, Thripunithura,
Ernakulam and completed the course in 2008. As I felt like learning Mural Painting I went to
Santhinikethan again. I stayed and worked there for one year as I did not get admission for Mural
Painting. It was during these times that my life as an artist changed. I got opportunity to see
international catalogues and refer many books. I understood the potential of drawing and especially the
Charcoal Drawings of William Kendrige, a South African artist touched me a lot. I did some scribble
drawings this period. As things were progressing alongside I happened to see the works of Paul Delvaux,
a Belgium Artist who is an advocate of magical realism. His works had a magnetic attraction and it
carried me to my childhood memories and dreams, myths of my village, adventure and ghost stories Iheard in my childhood. This experience gave my drawing a new face. I completed almost six paintings in
Indian ink after I came back to my village in 2009. Mr. C.D. Jain, the artist who happened to see these
works asked me for ten drawings in bigger canvas size as he was an avid art collector. The work was
over in a year. Under his guidance a solo exhibition was organized at Vyloppilly SanskritiBhavan,
Thiruvananthapuram - my first solo exhibition. He himself curated it. Consequently I got scholarship for
young artists in 2012 from India Government (Fine Arts Academy).The scholarship residency was at Lalit
Kala Academy Regional centre, Chennai and was for a term of one year. After the completion of my
residency in Chennai, i worked in Mr. Jain’s studio in Mumbai for 3 months. For a period after my return
from Mumbai I was engaged in doing paintings for churches, and houses. I got job in a project by
Trivandrum Museum for the conservation of the paintings of K.C.S Panicker (N.R.L.C, Lucknow,
Conservation of Painting). I was awarded with Pollock- Krasner fellowship after the project that lasted
for one and half years.
Currently based in Thrissur , I specialize in drawings with Indian ink as medium. What I am attempting
to bring out in my works is the symbolic representation of the world wherein places with a cultural
background of history, myths, stories and childhood dreams merge with the contemporary life and its
realities.
