Girl, pensive

KOCHI: Animation graduate Rhea Paul’s illustrations depict the messy world of a 20-something urban educated woman. While her characters are bathed  summery pastel hues, a closer inspection reveals a more sombre existence they seem to inhabit

Even as a Class V student, Kochi native Rhea Paul was sure she wanted to make her career in art. The 22-year-old, whose western graphic novel inspired illustrations depict the messy world of a 20-something urban educated woman, found herself drawn to storytelling in college. Perhaps a vestige of all the manga comics that influenced her growing up. A recent animation graduate from Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru, Rhea is now a freelance illustrator. She is cognizant of how her art has evolved over the years.

“During high school, my drawings were heavily based on anime and manga but once I got into college, my professors pushed me to explore different styles and character design is what I do actively. Gradually, a European aesthetic seeped into to my work. It was subliminal and not at all conscious. Its also surprising because looking back, what I draw now is so different from what I started with. However, I don’t think I have ‘arrived’ at my style. I would like to experiment further. It is bound to happen anyways,” says Rhea.

According to her, most of her work is autobiographical, modelled on her own thoughts and feeling. While a cursory look shows young women bathed in summery pastel hues, a closer inspection of Rhea’s characters reveals a more sombre existence they seem to inhabit. There is seems to be an underlying melancholy, many of the figures look dazedly into the distance nursing unknown wounds with excessive bandages plastered all over their bodies. 

“If you look at my Instagram feed closely, there are a lot of illustrations that are not so lighthearted. I like the ambiguity of my work. I find meaning in my work even if the viewer doesn’t. The motif of the band-aid refers to how people try to find temporary solutions to their problems.

I myself have a tattoo of a band-aid. It is a just a temporary fix to an injury, it doesn’t necessarily heal and comes off when you shower. Everyone has problems and we are trying to find solutions even if they are superficial,” adds Rhea.

Another recurring motif and perhaps more unique is Rhea’s re imagining of eyebrows on her characters and as just two dots above the eyes. “It started off as something I had to come up with to make my illustrations different from others or even weird.

In fact, I almost didn’t want them to look like humans. Even the way I draw noses is distinct and does not always go with other facial features. I try to mismatch everything,” says Rhea who wants to draw more intuitively and hopes to come out with a graphic novel in the near future. Find her work on Instagram @pazl_dox