Remanan Vasudevan

This is me Remanan. it's been quite a journey. From a wet behind-the-ears, eager-beaver tenderfoot to a dyed-in-the-wool, been there done it all professional. What I have Learned, I have learned by doing it, by putting my nose to thw grindstone, going that extra mile and cultivating a roll-up-your-sleeve work ethic that get things done. I have been staying put for quite a while for reasons beyond my control and now i need to move on, there is fire in the belly, a head full of ideas, and in all modestly, oodles of ideas coming out of my ears.

I was born in a small village in Pathanamthitta, Kerala and those early years, those halcyon days, the memories of which still gives me the energy, the power to carry on. Those were wonder filled days, living in the lap of nature as it were, the rolling hills, the flowing rivers, the rubber plantations dense and dark.

My father, who loved literature, named me Remanan, a tragic, love lorn character from a well loved Malayalam classic. But art was anathema in the Vasudevan household for reasons I could hardly fathom. From the time I was able to hold a pencil I was at it, however much it was frowned upon by my folks. Notebooks, bits of paper, walls, nothing was spared. Soon, I moved to water colours and oil pastels and found inspiration from the works of Van Gogh. The bold brush strokes, the riot of colours, the raw energy, they really blew my mind.

I decided I would be an artist in life though I was dissuaded from make it a calling because there was no money in it. But I was at an age where the voice of reason gets drowned out by the sheer emotional intensity of doing what you love.

To learn the trade as it were, I got myself a diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Mavalikkara College of Fine Arts. The Principal, Kochu Kutty had a tremendous influence on me and was the first person to give me the confidence to pursue my dream.

To keep body and soul together and keep the home fires burning I ventured into commercial art, specifically advertising. I found I was pretty good at it and most importantly it gave the space and the freedom to keep my artistic interests going.

My notebooks are filled with pages and pages of sketches, life studies, of people and places. A virtual biograph. Its a treasure trove I dip in for inspiration, to jostle the memory. My work is primarily influenced by my memories, the vivid images of things seen. I look at things with a photographic eye, capturing not only the essence of what’s given to me as confrontation but also the details, the specific nuances, the sharp lines and curves, the light and the shadows. If I see someone, I see the person as whole, I take in the character, the body language, but I also see the warts, where the muscle sags or the veins on the muscle.