More often than not, rags-to-riches stories leave readers inspired, but in the case of artist Unnikrishnan C, stronger emotions are stirred. Hailing from Nemmara in Kerala’s Palakkad, the artist is exhibiting his works as well as those painted by his mother, Devu Nenmara, at Gallery Sumukha in the city, and how they got there is nothing short of incredible.
“I was always good at art. That was something I knew about myself when I was in class I itself, but I never thought it could be a life choice,” says Unnikrishnan, talking from his home in Kerala. For the son of daily wage earners, a career in the creative field was out of the question. Unnikrishnan admits he was in high school before he even heard of a Fine Arts course.
“It was my art teacher Sushma Devi who saw my potential and urged me to pursue Fine Arts. She had graduated with a Fine Arts degree and would share what she had learnt. It fuelled my desire to study the same, but my parents were not supportive of this idea and I don’t blame them as I wasn’t good in any school subject, except for art. Besides, in my family none of us had studied past class X.”
A work by Unnikrishnan C
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Unnikrishnan too, may have stopped his studies at high school level if a class XII certificate was not one of the criteria to enroll for Fine Arts, which he eventually did at the Government College of Fine Arts Thrissur. “I honestly wasn’t too keen on studying but a desire to join a Fine Arts course and become an artist, kept me going,” he says, adding, that when he placed 10th at the entrance exam that year, there was no looking back thereafter.
Throughout his studies, Unnikrishnan would supplement the family income by taking up blue-collar jobs. He recollects how during a semester break, he was back home weighed down by the family’s struggles. “I felt the walls closing in on me as if to hear me pour out my problems and take them in. From that day on, I began to paint on each brick until by the time I reached final year the interior of our house was covered with art work.”
Unnikrishnan says he shared this with his mentor, Kavita Balakrishnan, who taught art history at college and she included this work as a video submission for an exhibition she was holding in Chennai. He replicated a similar work in college as part of his final year assessment where it was appreciated by Jitish Kallat and Bose Krishnamachari who included it at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2014.
A work by Devu Nenmara
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
He was one of the youngest artists featured at the Biennale that year and that proved to be the turning point in Unnikrishnan’s life. His works at the Kochi Biennale earned him an invitation to the Sharjah Biennale in 2015 and so on until he had his first solo show in Switzerland hosted by art collector Richard Bloom in 2018.
Home sweet home
Devu watched all these happenings unfold in her son’s life, first with a sense of apprehension that was followed by acceptance, and much later, understanding. “In the beginning I wondered what my son would gain by studying art, if it would benefit him in any way, but I was also glad he had found something that made him happy. There is no point forcing a child to study what they are not interested in. His teacher too, was quite sure of his talent and she encouraged me,” says 62-year-old Devu.
Unnikrishnan had opened a small studio in his hometown to continue his art practice and also give underprivileged children a space to explore their creativity. During the pandemic, he shared his paints with family members, urging them to paint so as to take their minds off the looming uncertainty.
A work by Unnikrishnan C
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“That was when my mother began to draw a bit; she would watch me paint after she’d get back home from work in the evenings,” he recollects.
“Art supplies are hard to come by and I had kept aside some dried gouache paints to use later. My mother found those, softened them with water and began to paint on some paper. At first I thought it was passing curiosity, but then she began to regularly work on creating something, after her day’s work was done.”
“I never knew she could draw and I was excited to see her at work. Before I knew it, she was creating bigger works and I could see she was narrating her life stories through them,” he says, adding that her copious use of colours reflected her emotions.
“I was just happy he was by my side and we were painting together,” says Devu, who adds that Unnikrishnan did not interfere with her way of working.
“Whether it is my mother or my students, I believe Art cannot be taught. It comes from within and all we can do is provide a chance, a situation for it to be expressed,” says the 35-year-old artist.
Me, Amma, We
While Unnikrishnan was in talks with Gallery Sumukha for his show, he did not tell his mother he intended to include her works as well. “I wanted her to paint as she always did, enjoying herself without any hindrance or restriction.”
However, when Me, Amma, We opened at Sumukha, Devu was present. It was her second trip outside Kerala, the first was for one of Unnikrishnan’s shows in Hyderabad in late 2024. Needless to say, she was overjoyed to see her works mounted on a gallery’s walls.
A work by Devu Nenmara
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
While Unnikrishnan prefers gouache paints, Devu uses acrylic which is a quick drying medium, something she needs in the midst of her busy schedule.
Visitors to the show will see earth tones and agrarian settings dominate Unnikrishnan’s work, while Devu’s canvases are marked by a burst of colour that almost seem joyously impulsive. Grain spread out to dry on mats, brick wall backgrounds and similar scenes, share the walls with forest scenes where the foliage is a reflection of the Creator’s palette.
Me, Amma, We is on display at Gallery Sumukha till January 11, 2025.
Published – January 07, 2025 11:53 am IST
